Lemon and Olive Chicken

Preheat the oven to about gas mark 6.

Cut the lemons in half. Then place the chicken in an oven-proof dish and squeeze the juice from the lemons all over the chicken pieces. Once you’ve squeezed the lemon halves, cut them in half again – you’ll end up with some rather squished-looking lemon quarters that will be used later. So set them aside.

Scatter the mushrooms and olives over the chicken pieces and push into all the spaces between the chicken. Don’t worry if the pan ends up pretty crowded.

Spread the chopped garlic over the chicken, mushrooms and olives and then scatter dried oregano and ground black pepper over the whole thing. Generously drizzle olive oil over everything and then pop the squeezed lemon quarters into any left-over spaces between the chicken, mushrooms and olives, facing downwards (or skin side up) so that any juice drips down into the pan.

Bake in the middle rack of the pre-heated oven. The amount of time this will take will depends on how much chicken you’re cooking and how full the pan is, and may vary from about 40 minutes to an hour. To check whether the chicken is cooked properly, stab a couple of pieces in their thickest parts with a fork – if the juices run clear, it’s done. If the chicken starts to get dry during cooking, add a little bit of boiling water to the pan.