I made this a wee while ago and really loved the flavour combination. Radicchio is not always easy to find where I am, so for this I used chicory. This is delicious comfort food perfect for the winter. It’s also very simple to put together so you only need a few minutes to throw everything together and let your oven do the rest!
I got this recipe from Thomasina Miers from The Guardian’s Feast and outside of swapping the radicchio for chicory, made no changes.
More with Chicken: Piri-Piri Chicken with Tomato & Pepper Rice | Chicken, olive and caper ragu | Low-fat Chicken Kebabs
Chicken with radicchio, pancetta & rosemary

Serves 4 | Prep 10 mins | Cook 1hr 15 mins
Easy | Gluten-free
You’ll need:
- 1 head radicchio (or 2 heads chicory), roughly shredded;
- 1 large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced;
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced;
- 80g thin slices pancetta, cut in half across the middle;
- 800g potatoes, sliced thinly (use a mandoline, if you have one);
- A few sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked;
- 4 chicken legs;
- 150ml double cream;
- 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil.
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/390F/gas 6. Put all the ingredients except the chicken, cream and a tablespoon of the oil into a large roasting dish, and season. Mix thoroughly with your hands and spread out evenly.
Rub the chicken legs all over with the reserved oil, then season , pop on top of the potatoes and bake for an hour.
Remove from the oven, pour over the cream and turn up the heat to 220C/200C fan/425F/gas 7. Return the dish to the oven for a final 10-15 minutes, by which time the cream will be bubbling and the chicken golden. Serve immediately with a crisp, green salad and crusty bread on the side.
Original recipe form Thomasina Miers in the Guardian’s Feast, issue 16 Nov 2020, available online here.