Mexican Chicken Chipotle

Mexican food is vibrant, delicious, full of flavour and very fun to cook. This dish is smoky, salty, sour, spicy and a little sweet! The main actor of this dish is the chipotle paste, made of ripened jalapeño chillies that have been smoked, dried and preserved with vinegar, sugar and usually includes ingredients like garlic, onion tomato pure and dried herbs. 

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Serves: 3-4 

Ingredients

• Salt, black pepper and Olive oil 
• 6 chicken drumstick or thighs with skin on and bone in 
• 5 red piquillo peppers 
• 3 tsp of chipotle chillies paste 
• 1 tsp of dried chilli flakes 
• 2 tsp of ground cumin 
• 2 tsp of dried origano 
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped 
• 400g can of plum tomatoes 
• 1 tsp of caster sugar
• 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar 

Method

1. Bring the oven to temperature, around 200 C. 
2. Roast the pepper until the skin gets a perfect char, nice and black all around.
3. While the pepper are roasting marinate the chicken. In a deep oven tray add a good glug of olive oil, a good pinch of salt and black pepper,  the chipotle, the cumin and the origano. Add the chicken and mix well so the chicken is fully coated from the spices and the chipotle paste. 
4. Once the piquillo peppers are done transfer them in a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave them to cool down. 
5. Now add the marinated chicken in the oven and let it roast until nice and golden, about 20-25 minutes. Keep the temperature of the oven around 180/200 C.
6. While the chicken is cooking get ready the tomato sauce. In a bowl add the plum tomatoes and crush them with your hands or a potato masher. Then add a pinch of salt and black pepper, the red wine vinegar, the sugar, the chopped garlic and chilli flakes. Take the skin off from the pepper and remove the seeds, roughly chop them in big chunks and add to the tomato sauce. Mix all and set on one side.  
7. Once the chicken is nice and golden, remove it from the tray and rest it  on one side. Add the tomato sauce in the same tray where you cooked the chicken and place the chicken back on top. 
8. Roast until the tomato sauce as thicken up and the chicken looks nice and caramelised. 
9. Enjoy with some Mexican rice or tortillas. 

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