Italian Inspired Sunday Roast Dinner

What's not to love about Sunday dinners? Nice wine, great company; they're ultra relaxed and the perfect way to ease out of the weekend.

Inspired by the delivery of the April/May issue of Dish magazine, I set about creating an Italian-inspired menu. I didn't want too many courses and was searching for something that could cook unaccompanied so I wasn't a slave to the kitchen - missing out on the conversation. I also wanted to keep the vestige of the Sunday roast.  With that in mind, I settled on Roast Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Thighs with Grapes and Thyme, Crispy Roast Potatoes with Bay Leaves and Garlic and a Green Bean and Fennel Salad with Tomato Raisins. For dessert I made Chilli Chocolate Bundt Cakes and served them with passion fruit coulis, yoghurt and blueberries.

To help you with timing, here’s what I did:

Prepare in advance:  marinate chicken, semi cook potatoes, cook green beans, chilli chocolate bundt cakes and tomato raisins

Prepare just before getting ready/changed: wrap chicken, brown thighs, dress salad in container, get oven to temperature

40 mins before serving dinner:  chicken and potatoes in oven

Just before serving:  salad onto serving platter (or do in advance if you can leave it on the bench - it's too warm in Singapore)

Roast chicken with grapes and thyme

Marinate the chicken overnight if possible

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/4 C olive oil

2 cloves garlic

2T chopped rosemary or thyme

finely grated lemon zest

8 strips streaky bacon

1T olive oil

2 red onions, sliced

2 bay leaves

1C white wine

1C chicken stock

2C seedless grapes

2T chopped flat leaf parsley

8 toothpicks or kitchen string

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary and lemon zest in a large bowl and season. Add the chicken and turn to coat well.  Wrap each piece of chicken in a strip of bacon and secure with toothpick or kitchen string,

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan and brown the chicken on all sides.  Transfer to a plate. Drain off most of the fat, leaving 2 tablespoons in the pan.  Add the onions and bay leaves and cook for 2 minutes.  Pour in the wine and let it bubble up rapidly, scraping the bottom of the pan to release all the crispy bits. Stir in the stock then return the chicken and any meat juices to the pan and roast for 30 minutes. Add the grapes and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through.

To serve: Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Stir the parsley into the pan juices and spoon the grapes and sauce over the top.

Serves 4

I should wrap more things in bacon...

Crispy Roast Potatoes with Bay Leaves and Garlic

1kg small waxy potatoes, scrubbed

8 bay leaves

12 whole garlic cloves, skin on

3T olive oil

Large knob of butter

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 180°C

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until 3/4 cooked.  Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle then scrape each potato with a fork to rough up the surface.

Place in a large roasting dish with the bay leaves and garlic cloves and toss with olive oil. Season generously and dot with the butter. Roast for 40 minutes, turning occasionally, until crisp, golden and tender when pierced with a knife.  Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with a little sea salt.

Serves 4

Green Beans and Fennel Salad with Tomato Raisins

400g round green beans

1 very small red onion, finely sliced

3T olive oil

1T white wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, crushed

2T chopped mint plus extra mint for garnish

1 medium fennel bulb, finely sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Tomato Raisins

1 punned cherry tomatoes

Olive Oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 100°C

Place tomatoes on a lined baking tray and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake for about 11/2 hours until shrivelled and golden in patches. Cool.

Salad:  Cook the beans in plenty of boiling salted water until done to your liking. Drain and refresh in cold water to stop the cooking process.  Drain and dry on kitchen towels.

Soak the onion in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes. Drain and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel.

Whisk the oil, vinegar and garlic in a bowl and season then stir in the mint.  Toss the beans, onion, fennel and half the tomatoes with the dressing and transfer to a serving platter. Scatter with the remaining tomatoes, a grind of black pepper and extra mint.

Serves 4

Tomato Raisins - before

And after - now you see why they're called Tomato Raisins

Click here for the Chilli Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe.

Here's a sneak peek to keep you interested...