Roast Chicken on a Bed of Ratatouille

📝 Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs (about 250 g each)
• 2 courgettes (about 200 g each)
• 1 aubergine (about 300 g)
• 1 red pepper (about 180 g)
• 4 tomatoes (about 120 g each)
• 1 brown onion (about 120 g)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp olive oil (2 for the vegetables, 1 for the chicken)
• 2 tsp herbes de Provence (1 for the vegetables, 1 for the chicken)
• 200 g couscous + 220 ml boiling water
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large baking tray
• Chopping board
• Chef's knife
• Mixing bowl
• Kettle or saucepan
• Fork

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 210 °C (fan). Wash the vegetables. Cut the courgettes, aubergine and deseeded pepper into 2 cm cubes, the onion into slices and the tomatoes into wedges. Keep the garlic cloves whole in their skins, crushing them lightly with the flat of the knife.
2. On the large oven tray, toss all the vegetables and garlic with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp herbes de Provence, 1 tsp salt and some pepper. Spread them out in an even layer without piling them up, so they roast rather than stew.
3. Remove the skin from the chicken legs: grip it with kitchen paper so it doesn't slip and pull firmly to peel it away from the meat. Make two cuts down to the bone in each leg, then rub it with the rest of the oil and herbs, salt and pepper.
4. Place the chicken legs directly on the vegetables, well spaced, and roast for 25 min on the middle shelf. The chicken juices run into the vegetables and flavour them throughout cooking: don't add any water.
5. Take out the tray, stir the vegetables around the chicken legs and baste the meat with the cooking juices. Return to the oven for 20 to 25 min, until the chicken is golden and the juices run clear, with no trace of pink, when pierced near the bone.
6. 10 min before the end of cooking, tip the couscous into a bowl with 1 pinch of salt. Add the 220 ml boiling water, cover with a plate and leave to swell for 5 min, then fluff up with a fork to separate the grains.
7. Leave the chicken to rest for 5 min out of the oven so it stays juicy. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and mix them into the vegetables, which should be meltingly tender and lightly caramelised. Serve each chicken leg on the ratatouille, with the couscous drizzled with the juices.