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One Pan Roast Chicken with Pumpkin and Sage Rice

Servings: 6

Ingredients

For the pumpkin:

  • 1 sugar pumpkin roughly 2 lb, 9 oz, peeled, deseeded, cut into 1 inch wedges. See notes!
  • extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, about 2-3 tablespoons
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2½ teaspoons maple syrup optional, but delicious

For the chicken marinade:

  • 3 lb chicken thighs, bone-in skin-on trimmed of excess fat, ¾ slit cut into the skin on top.
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 3 teaspoon course Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

For the pan:

  • 2 tablespoon avocado oil or high heat oil
  • ⅔ cup shallot chopped small
  • sprinkle kosher salt
  • 1½-2 tablespoons garlic crushed or minced
  • 2 heaping tablespoons fresh sage cut into thin ribbons
  • 1 cup, packed Tuscan/Lacinato kale stems removed, leaves cut into very thin ribbons
  • 1 cup basmati white rice heavily rinsed and drained
  • ¾ cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • fresh sage leaves to top

Instructions

For the pumpkin:

  • Preheat your oven to 415 °F, convection if possible
  • On a medium sized cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, toss the pumpkin wedges with olive oil, kosher salt, and maple syrup until the pumpkin is evenly coated. Spread the pumpkin evenly out on the cookie sheet and roast in the oven for roughly 35 minutes, or until pumpkin is lightly golden brown.

For the chicken marinade:

  • In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, garlic powder, thyme, and olive oil. Stir well to combine. Rub the marinade all over the chicken thighs, especially underneath the skin. Set aside and allow the chicken to marinade for a minimum of 20 minutes.

For the pan:

  • Adjust the oven temperature to 400 °F
  • Preheat a 3½ quart deep pan on medium-high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of avocado oil or high heat oil.
  • Place the chicken thighs, skin side down into the pan and allow them to sear roughly 1 minute or so, until the skins become very deeply golden brown.
  • Flip the chicken over and let it sear for another minute.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest on a plate or in a bowl. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil so it does not dry out.
  • Lower the temperature to medium heat and add the shallots and a sprinkle of kosher salt to the pan. (There should be enough oil from browning the chicken to cook the shallots)
  • Cook the shallots for a few minutes until lightly golden. (Make sure to scrape up all the good bits from browning the chicken as you stir)
  • Add the garlic and sage to the pan, cook for about 1 minute until garlic is lightly golden and sage is fragrant.
  • Add the rice to the pan. Stir it and let it toast a bit, roughly 1 minute.
  • Slowly pour half the wine into the pan, stirring the rice as your pour. When the wine has almost fully absorbed into the rice, slowly add in the remaining wine while stirring.
  • Add the kale into the pan and stir.
  • Slowly add the water into the pan. Add the lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and stir.
  • Carefully arrange the pumpkin wedges in to the pan. Nestle the chicken into the pan (its ok if the chicken ends up on top of the pumpkin). Add the juices/gravy from the chicken that settled in the bowl when the chicken was resting.
    Arrange the extra sage leaves on top of the chicken.
  • Bring the contents of the pan to a boil then transfer the pan to the oven and cook for roughly 38-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and reads 180 °F on a thermometer.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and serve straight from the pan. Enjoy!

Notes

If you want to make this recipe when pumpkins are no longer in season, you can substitute acorn squash.