Why Was My Chicken And Pea Traybake A Bit Greasy?

Our answer

Nigella's Chicken And Pea Traybake (from AT MY TABLE) is a one-pan dish, where the juices and fat from the chicken help to baste the vegetables as they slowly cook and become sweet. The chicken and vegetables need the same cooking time, so if you were to cook the chicken separately to start with you would need to put it in a separate pan in the oven, with the vegetables, vermouth and oil in the roasting tin, then transfer the chicken to the roasting tin. However, you would lose a lot of flavour this way and it would not be our preferred method.

Instead, we would suggest that before you cook the chicken thighs, you trim away any excess fat and skin that you can see as some thighs can come with a fair amount. If the chicken seems quite fatty then you can also just use a very little olive oil and brush it on the skin of the chicken. Finally, after cooking you could remove any excess fat by spooning it out of the pan before serving.