This Seoulful garlic chicken tray bake packs a rich and deeply savoury punch

If there was an early lesson from John Gregory-Smith’s foray into social media, it would be best described as “keep it simple”.

The Britain-based chef, who has built an online following of millions around the world, quickly learnt that if you want people to try something new, simplicity is key.

And in the kitchen, few things are as simple as one-pan cooking. “Tray bakes are the ultimate entry point,” Gregory-Smith writes in his latest cookbook. “Every time I share tray bake recipes on social media, they pop off.”

The new collection, The Greatest Traybake Cookbook Ever, contains 100 low-effort recipes to add to your rotation, from speedy weeknight dinners to slow-cooked crowd-pleasers. “Many of these recipes are true ‘one-tray wonders’: chuck everything into the tin, hurl it in the oven and you’re done.”

One-pan dishes offer more versatility than many people might expect, Gregory-Smith says: “I’ve loved playing around with unexpected ingredients that you wouldn’t typically expect in tray bakes.”

Here, he takes inspiration from international cuisines, offering a Korean-inspired chicken dinner and an easy Mediterranean meal made with gnocchi.

– Katia Hales

Seoulful Korean-inspired garlic chicken

This is my take on dak-dori-tang, a Korean chicken-and-potato stew, reimagined as a quick, easy tray bake. It’s absolutely packed with flavour, thanks to a lip-smacking sauce made from gochujang, vinegar and soy sauce. Chicken thighs and onions roast together with little new potatoes that soak up every drop of that rich, deeply savoury sauce. Gochujang paste is widely available in most supermarkets.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tbsp gochujang paste
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 4-5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1kg chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
• 250ml hot chicken stock – from 1 stock cube
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 8 garlic cloves
• 650g new potatoes, peeled, halved, larger ones cut into thirds
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200C fan-forced (220C conventional). Whisk together the gochujang, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar and ginger in a jug.
2. Chuck the chicken into a mixing bowl, spoon over 3 tablespoons of the sauce you have just made and mix well.
3. Pour the stock into the jug with the remaining sauce and whisk together.
4. Put the onions, garlic cloves, potatoes and chicken into a 30cm x 40cm baking tray. Pour over the stock. Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and reduce the temperature to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Return the tin to the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is lovely and crispy and the tops of the potatoes golden. Scatter over the spring onions and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Crispy gnocchi with burrata and green pesto

I am fully obsessed with gnocchi tray bakes, and if you haven’t tried one yet, this is your sign to dive in. It couldn’t be easier: start with shop-bought gnocchi and toss them straight into a baking tray – no need to pre-boil! – with tomatoes, onion and chorizo. As it bakes, the onion and tomatoes create a rich sauce that makes the gnocchi soft and tender on the bottom, while the top turns golden and crispy, with the chorizo melting through everything. Finish off with creamy burrata and green pesto to turn it into a special meal.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 1 x 500g pack gnocchi
• 400g cherry tomatoes, most halved
• ½ a red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 100g chorizo, finely chopped
• 30g bunch of fresh basil
• ½ garlic clove, peeled
• juice of ¼ of a lemon
• 20g parmesan, roughly chopped
• 15g pine nuts
• 150g burrata, at room temperature
• salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Rub a little oil all over the base of a 24cm x 32cm baking tray. Chuck in the gnocchi, cherry tomatoes and red onion. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Toss together. Scatter the chorizo over the top and pour over 80ml of water. Pop into the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the top is crispy and the bottom soft.
2. Meanwhile, make the pesto by blitzing the basil, garlic, lemon juice, parmesan, pine nuts, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of water and plenty of salt and pepper in a food processor. Blast it, scraping down the sides occasionally, for a few minutes until really creamy.
3. Rip the burrata over the gnocchi and spoon over the pesto. Grab a fork and tuck in.

Serves 2

This is an edited extract from The Greatest Traybake Cookbook Ever by John Gregory-Smith, published by Michael Joseph. Photography by Martin Poole. RRP $59.99.