CHICKEN WITH CREAMY LEEKS
Seasoned oven-baked chicken served on cheesy, creamy leeks with kumara wedges. This warming meal has a restaurant quality feel to it.
Creamy leeks and spinach is a delicious way to scoff down some veggies – I don’t know why I haven’t tried it sooner!
You can easily make this a more budget-friendly meal by replacing the boneless, skinless chicken thighs with chicken drumsticks, and by using regular potatoes instead of kumara. Frozen spinach (thawed and drained of excess moisture) would also be a good alternative to baby spinach.
CHICKEN WITH CREAMY LEEKS
Seasoned oven-baked chicken served on cheesy, creamy leeks with kumara wedges. This warming meal has a restaurant quality feel to it.
Ingredients
KUMARA WEDGES
- 800 g red kumara (1lb 12oz)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
CHICKEN
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian herbs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 600 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1lb 5oz)
- 1 tsp olive oil
CREAMY LEEKS
- 1 large leek
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup chicken stock (250ml)
- 80 g lite cream cheese (2.8oz)
- 120 g baby spinach (4.2oz)
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan (30g)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 210ºC (410ºF) bake and line two oven trays with baking paper.
MAKE WEDGES
Peel kumara (or scrub clean) and cut into wedges. Place on one of the prepared trays, drizzle with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix well, then arrange in a single layer. Cook in the upper half of the oven for 15 minutes.
PREPARE CHICKEN
Meanwhile, mix garlic powder, herbs and salt together. Sprinkle all over chicken. Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium-high. Sear chicken (you may need to do this in batches) for a minute each side, until browned. Transfer to second oven tray.
Once wedges have cooked for 15 minutes, move tray to the lower half of the oven and place the chicken above. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and wedges are golden and crisp.
MAKE CREAMY LEEKS
Clean leek well and slice into thin half rings. Crush garlic. Melt butter on medium heat in pan used to brown chicken (wipe it out first if you prefer). Add leek and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leek is tender (about 5 minutes). Add stock and simmer until it has reduced by about one third. Stir in cream cheese. Add spinach and parmesan and cook until spinach has wilted and parmesan has melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low.
SERVE
Divide creamy leeks between warmed serving plates and top with chicken (slice it or leave whole). Serve with wedges on the side.
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: A unoaked Chardonnay.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Use gluten-free chicken stock.
INGREDIENT SWAPS / NOTES: If you have some aioli in the fridge, this makes a nice dip for the kumara wedges!
BUDGET TIP: Swap the kumara for regular potatoes. You could use chicken drumsticks instead of thighs (you’ll need to cook them for longer - place them in oven at the same time as the wedges, so they cook for 35-40 minutes).
STORING AND REHEATING: Chicken and creamy leeks can be stored together and reheated in the microwave. Kumara wedges are best reheated in the oven or frying pan, otherwise they tend to go soggy.
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