Chicken thighs with merguez in thyme-lemon sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 6 chicken legs
• 4 pairs of sausages (merguez)
• 3 shallots
• 1 lemon(s), untreated
• 1 bunch of thyme
• 8 small potatoes, new
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper, coarse
• 1 chili pepper(s)
• 500 ml chicken broth
• 125 ml dry white wine

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

Peel the onions and garlic. Cut the onion into small wedges. Finely chop 1 clove of garlic, halve the other two. Trim the legs, remove any excess fat, and then rub well with pepper and salt. Heat a pan and sear the legs one after the other on both sides without any fat, about 2-3 minutes total. The legs should be browned and already slightly crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside. Cut the lemon into thick slices and sear briefly on both sides, then place them in a baking dish and scatter a few thyme sprigs on top. Peel the potatoes and place them in the baking dish with the lemon slices, still on their skins. Quarter or halve larger potatoes. Preheat oven to 200°C. In the same pan, brown the merguez, add the bay leaf, the whole chili pepper, the garlic, and the onions, and brown everything well. Then deglaze with the white wine and 500 ml of chicken stock, and bring to a boil briefly. Add the merguez to the lemons and potatoes and pour the broth into the casserole dish. Then arrange the chicken drumsticks between the merguez and potatoes and braise everything on the middle rack for about 40-45 minutes, basting the drumsticks with the broth if desired. Sprinkle a little more thyme over the top 5 minutes before the end of cooking. Before serving, pour the broth from the casserole dish into a saucepan and bring to a boil briefly with butter, low-fat cream cheese, or a sauce thickener. Add a little honey to taste and serve separately. I like to serve this dish with tomato salad and balsamic dressing with honey and red onions.