Chicken Legs in Oven Tomato Sauce

Scald the sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water and soak for 15 minutes, then squeeze out and roughly chop. Put the chopped tomatoes together with the butter and garlic in a tall container and puree them finely.

Season to taste with salt, pepper and Espelette pepper. You can do that a day in advance, you can also make more of it and freeze it and this butter also tastes good with grilled meat.

Loosen the skin at one point on the edge of the poultry and use your finger to loosen the skin from the meat, but make sure that the skin is only loosened from the edge at this one point. Now push some of the tomato butter under the skin and distribute it well under the skin. Rub the poultry parts with the butter on the outside as well.

Sprinkle the raw cane sugar evenly over an ovenproof dish. Halve the tomatoes, drain them well and place them in the tin with the cut surface facing down. Now put the tomatoes on the top shelf of the oven preheated to 250 degrees and leave them in the oven until the skin is black and blisters, which takes about 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, finely chop the thyme and finely grate the cloves of garlic. Now take the tomatoes out of the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 180 degrees. The tomato skin can now be lifted off the tomatoes with a fork or fingertips without any problems.

Now mash the tomato flesh well with a fork, add the thyme and garlic and season with salt and pepper and stir everything well and then place in the oven for another 30 minutes - now on the middle rack.

After the 30 minutes, place the chicken pieces on the tomato sauce and put it in the oven for another 45 minutes.

Lingering in the oven for a long time contributes significantly to the taste of the sauce. So it is better to leave it in the oven for a few minutes longer than too short. I can imagine all sorts of side dishes - potatoes, gnocchi, pasta, rice. With the warmth we didn't feel like a big side dish, we had a fresh Simit with it.