Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake

Jersey Royals nestled with spicy chorizo, juicy chicken, vine tomatoes and leeks, roasted with garlic and topped with thyme. This Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake makes its own lovely sauce!

Sometimes, often in fact, I don’t have a recipe in mind when I go into the kitchen to make a meal. I start opening drawers in the refrigerator and browsing my pantry for inspiration. This meal was one of those. 

I had some spicy chorizo I had been wanting to use and a leek that was getting just a little dried out on top. And the rest just sort of fell together in my big roasting pan. 

I have since made it again because it was so good! The oils that render as the chicken thighs and chorizo roast, along with the tomato juice make the most wonderful basting liquid! 

Jersey Royal Chorizo Chicken Traybake

Traybake in the UK, sheet pan dinner in the US. Whatever we call them, everyone loves just one cooking vessel to wash up! If you don’t have Royals or baby new potatoes, you can use larger waxy potatoes like Yukon Golds (US) or Charlottes (UK). Peel them and cut them into chunks. 

Ingredients

8 oz or 225g Spanish chorizo

1 fat leek, tender green and white parts only, trimmed weight 136g

4 skin-on, bone in chicken thighs, cut in half (approx. weight 1 lb 10 oz or 750g)

3 cloves garlic

6 (ripened on the vine, if possible) cherry tomatoes

1.1 lb or 500g Jersey Royals or baby new potatoes

olive oil for drizzling and greasing the pan

fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and prepare your roasting pan by drizzling it with a little olive oil. 

Peel the casing off of the chorizo and discard. Cut the chorizo into chunks.

Trim the hard green part and the root end off of your leek and discard, Cut the rest into chunks. Slice the garlic cloves thinly.

Use a meat cleaver or poultry scissors to cut each chicken thigh in half, through the bone. Put the chicken pieces skin side up in the prepared pan. 

Distribute the leek and potatoes around the chicken. Halve the tomatoes and tuck them in too. Sprinkle the whole thing with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Now add in the chorizo and scatter the sliced garlic on top. 

Give everything another drizzle of olive oil and bake in your preheated oven for about 40 minutes, basting occasionally.

Add in the sprigs of thyme and bast again. 

Bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 3rd edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter C. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the C recipes below:

• Sneha’s Recipe: Chettinad Mushroom Masala
• Food Lust People Love: Chicken Chorizo Traybake
• Blogghetti: Captain Crunch French Toast
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Chickpea Chaat Salad
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Hot Chocolate Cookies
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Cider Glazed Chicken Wings
• Magical Ingredients: Cheesy Corn Dip
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Chia Seed Protein Bites
• A Messy Kitchen: Cappuccino Mousse
• Culinary Cam: Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Cheesy Cheddar Taco-Seasoned Corn Chip Dip

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake – this post!

Pin this Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake! 

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Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta

This Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta is a flavorful one-pot meal that the whole family will love. Dish it up and sprinkle on the feta!

Today my Sunday FunDay friends are sharing recipes made with ingredients that add umami, the fifth taste our taste buds detect. It is usually associated with meat, seafood, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese so this dish has umami to spare with chorizo, tomatoes and feta.

Make sure to scroll down to see the links to the other umami-rich recipes. 

Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta

My can of tomatoes were fire-roasted (hence the specks of black in the photo of the simmering pot) but any crushed tomatoes will do. This recipe is adapted from Delicious.co.uk.  I'm not a fan of the dill in the original and just happened to have some chorizo in the refrigerator. If you do not or if you want to make this vegetarian, substitute some lovely oil-cured olives, which add loads of umami as well. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 oz Spanish-style chorizo

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus extra to serve

1 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

7 1/2 oz or 215g ditalini or other small pasta shape

14.5 oz or 411g can crushed tomatoes

15 oz or 425g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 cups or 480ml chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Fine sea salt to taste

For topping:

3 1/2 oz or 100g feta, crumbled

crushed red pepper

Optional for garnish: parsley 

Method

Finely dice the onion and garlic and cut the chorizo into small cubes. 

Heat the oil in a deep pot and add the cubed chorizo and fry for a few minutes which will release the gorgeous red oil. Add in the onion and garlic. Sauté gently for 6-8 minutes until softened but not colored.

Turn up the heat slightly, and make a little space in the middle of the pan. Pour the mustard seeds in the space and sprinkle the crushed red pepper over the chorizo and vegetables. Fry for 1-2 minutes more until the mustards seeds begin to pop. 

Pour in the pasta and stir to coat.  

Add the tomatoes, stock and chickpeas. 

Give the whole thing a good stir. 

Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is tender. 

Add in the baking soda and stir well. 

It will bubble up as the soda neutralizes some of the acid in the tomato sauce. This is a secret I learned from an Italian-American nonna and I use it every time I make tomato sauce of any kind. It makes the sauce a little bit sweeter.

Season with salt to taste but keep in mind that feta can be quite salty and you will be stirring some through to serve. 

Serve in bowls sprinkled with feta and more crushed red pepper and parsley, if desired.  

Enjoy! 

Need more recipes with umami? Click on the links below! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime.

• Umami Bomb Tomato Sauce from Making Miracles
• Steaks with Gouda Sauce from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cucumber Kimchi Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta from Food Lust People Love
• Fried Chicken Wings - Korean Style from Sneha's Recipe
• Umami from the Sea: Sea Palm-Kale Salad and Uni Handrolls from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Patatas Bravas from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Easy Vegan Pad Thai from Cook with Renu

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta!

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Chorizo and Date Skewers - Brochetas de Chorizo y Datiles

Chorizo and date skewers or brochetas de chorizo y datiles are a fabulous combination of sweet and salty, rich and chewy. Best of all, they are simple and quick to put together.

A couple of months back we were in Atlanta for our nephew’s wedding. We arrived a couple of days early, thinking it would give us time to recover from the trip and also to spend some time with the relatives.

That first night we dropped our bags off at our hotel before heading to dinner at Eclipse de Luna, a tapas restaurant and one of their favorite places. My sister-in-law insisted upon ordering two plates of these little beauties because she wanted a whole skewer to herself. They are that good. The best part is that they are so simple to make at home.

This weekend I am in Orlando attending the fifth annual Food Wine Conference. I’m looking forward to all of the delicious food and the informative sessions but the best part is always the company of my colleagues at the Sunday Supper Movement and my fellow bloggers.

Just like last year, on Sunday evening we will gather for the last time at Tapa Toro, a lovely Spanish tapas restaurant for our live Twitter chat. For those of you who won’t be joining us, we thought it would be a good idea to share some tapas recipes, like these chorizo and date skewers. Scroll down to the bottom for more details.

Chorizo and Date Skewers or Brochetas de Chorizo y Datiles

Ingredients
9 3/4 oz or 275g Spanish chorizo, skin removed -  I like the extra picante.
12 Medjool dates, pitted
6 slices smoked bacon
1 3/4 oz or 50g blue cheese

Also needed:
6 wooden or metal skewers
6 toothpicks

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Cut the chorizo into 18 pieces and line them up chorizo/date/chorizo/date/chorizo.

Poke the pointy end of the skewer through one end of the bacon and through one group of dates and chorizo.

Wrap the bacon around the end and secure it with a toothpick. Lay the chorizo and date skewers in a baking pan.

Bake in your preheated hot oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the bacon is cooked.

Remove from the oven and arrange two per plate on small saucers. Sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to our event manager, Em, and this week's host, Christie of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures for all of their hard work behind the scenes.

Small Starters

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• Cucumber Finger Sandwiches by A Little Fish in the Kitchen
• Fiesta Pinwheels by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Grilled Polenta Bruschetta by Simple and Savory
• Spinach Feta Pinwheels by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Sweet Sriracha Almonds by Jersey Girl Cooks
• Waffled Twice Baked Potato Pancake Bites by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Wild Mushroom and Grape Crostini by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Pint-sized Protein

• Bacon-wrapped Chorizo and Date Skewers – Brochetas de Chorizo y Datiles by Food Lust People Love
• Chicken Caprese Bites by Books n’ Cooks
• Chicken Sausage & Fig Naan Bites by Soulfully Made
• Crab Stuffed Mushrooms by My Savory Spoon
• Easy Chicken Pesto and Sun Dried Tomato Croissants by Jonesin’ For Taste
• Grass Fed Beef Meatballs and Cauliflower Cilantro Smear by Our Good Life
• Greek Chicken Gyro Mini Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce by Hardly A Goddess
• Mini Salmon Cakes with Anise Aioli by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Salmon Poke on Wonton Crisps by Authentically Candace
• Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños by Gourmet Everyday
• Tuscan Chicken Bites by The Freshman Cook

Demi-Desserts

• Healthy Meringue Bites with Raspberry Yogurt by Cricket’s Confections
• Lemon Bars with Poppy Seed Shortbread by Pies and Plots
• Lime Mascarpone Cheesecake Shooters by Caroline’s Cooking

Pin these chorizo date skewers!