Ottolenghis chicken

It is 11.30pm and I am making the marinade for one of the easiest and most tasty chicken dishes ever, roast chicken with sumac and za'atar from my beloved Ottolenghis book that Harriet bought me. Red onion, lemon, garlic, allspice, cinnamon, sumac and olive oil will marinade all night with the chicken pieces ready for the pre-swimming lesson lunch tomorrow. Before roasting in the oven i'll sprinkle it with the citrusy fresh herb mix za'atar. When I pull it out of the oven all caramelised spicy onions and crispy chicken I'll throw on pine nuts and fresh parsley, plonk it in the middle of my chattering friends and we'll tuck in. This dish is based on the Palestinian dish m'sakhan, it's so good with garlicky yoghurt sauce (Greek yog, crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper = pure genius) and pitta bread but bread is banished tomorrow, everyone is dieting for weddings, balls and birthday parties!

Work day today and lots of pet passports to issue, no straightforward ones, all stressful. the thought of one of my lovely owners and their doggy stuck abroad not being able to come back home because of a mistake I have made on the passport gives me nightmares. I checked them all 3 times and got a nurse to check them too! I am so tired which is when I seem to go to bed the latest, crazy.

Marinade 2 thinly sliced red onions, 2 cloves of garlic crushed, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 and a1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp sumac, 1 thinly sliced lemon, 200ml chicken stock, 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black paper with a jointed chicken (I used 8 chicken thighs tonight though) overnight.

Roast the chicken on a baking tray in a single layer with lots of space, skin side up with its marinade. Sprinkle over 2 tbsp za'atar and roast for 45 mins at 200C until cooked through.

Heat 50g pine nuts with some butter and pinch of salt until golden and sprinkle over the cooked chicken with some chopped fresh leaf parsley, a drizzle of olive oil and a little bit more sumac and za'atar. Heavenly.