Paprika-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Grapefruit

Citrus — which is in season in winter — can cheer up the chilliest evening. In this recipe, adapted from Kismet: Bright, Fresh, Vegetable-Loving Recipes by Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson, pink grapefruit does the unlikely job of pulling together a one-pan dinner of chicken thighs with leeks and greens. The cookbook calls for pea shoots, tatsoi or baby spinach; we chose baby spinach, as it’s so easy to come by.

The Kismet recipe calls for making this on a sheet pan, but because there’s a step where you use a metal spatula to scrape up crispy bits of chicken from the pan — and sheet pans are usually aluminum — we recommend using a roasting pan instead. That’s because citrus (and tomato and other acidic foods and juices) react with regular aluminum, but roasting pans are usually made from anodized aluminum (which doesn’t react with acid) or stainless steel. If you only have a sheet pan, probably best to line it with kitchen parchment, though you won’t have the benefit of the crusty bits caramelizing on the pan.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds or 1.13 kg total)

1 tablespoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

2 whole star anise

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 or 4 leeks, white and light-green parts only, halved lengthwise

2 pink or Ruby Red grapefruits

5 ounces / 142 grams baby spinach

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 F / 177 C. Salt both sides of the chicken thighs and place them in a roasting pan, skin side up.

2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the paprika, Aleppo pepper allspice, star anise and black pepper. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Discard the star anise and pour the fragrant butter over the chicken.

3. Transfer to the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully add the leeks to the pan, along with 1/4 cup / 60 ml water, mixing the water into the butter and pan juices.

4. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 30 minutes. Turn on the broiler to high, and broil until nicely browned, 4 to 5 minutes.

5. While the chicken is in the oven, supreme the grapefruits by cutting the peel and white pith away with a sharp knife, then cut the segments away from between the membranes and drop them into a medium bowl. Squeeze the juice from the core into the bowl with the segments, and discard the squeezed-out membranes.

6. Remove the chicken and leeks from the oven and transfer to a serving dish. Using a metal spatula, scrape up the crispy bits from the bottom of the pan to incorporate them into the pan drippings.

7. Toss the grapefruit segments and juice into the pan drippings to coat, the add the greens, wilting them lightly as you toss them with the grapefruit. Spoon the grapefruit, sauce and greens around the chicken and serve.

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