Italian-Style Oven Dinner

Everything goes into one pan and the oven does the rest. Chicken pieces roast on top of Italian sausage chunks, sliced bell peppers, and canned Italian tomatoes with garlic. An hour and fifteen minutes later, the chicken skin crisps up while the sausage and vegetables cook down into a thick, saucy base.

Basting frequently is the move that ties it all together. Each time you spoon those pan juices over the chicken, you’re building layers of flavor on the skin and keeping the meat from drying out during the long roast.

The beauty of this recipe is that the sausage fat renders into the tomatoes and peppers, creating a built-in sauce without any extra work. No stock, no roux, no separate pan.

Pro Tips

• Use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. Boneless cuts will dry out over 75 minutes of roasting.
• Don’t crowd the pan. Give everything space so the chicken skin crisps instead of steaming.
• Drain the canned tomatoes well. Too much liquid steams the chicken instead of roasting it.
• Baste every 15 to 20 minutes. It makes a noticeable difference in how juicy the final chicken is.

Variations

• Add quartered potatoes to the pan for a complete one-dish meal.
• Use hot Italian sausage instead of sweet for a spicier version.
• Toss in pitted olives and capers during the last 20 minutes for a Mediterranean spin.