Baked Lemon Chicken

The house smells ah-mazing right now! The lemon and garlic aromas swirling through the air- mmmm! Next time I will sauté the onion a little before hand, because I like the onion more broken down and melty. Serve this with rice, or mashed potatoes, so you can sop up those lovely lemony juices that will be on your plate. Crusty bread is a must! Spoon the baked lemons onto the serving plate too, because the baked lemon is good scraped out and put onto your bread. This a very quick dish to put into the oven. 

Serves 4

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts ( can use boneless thighs if you wish)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for pan
juice of 1 large lemon, plus 5-6 slices of lemon to nestle next to the chicken ( zest the large lemon before juicing) 
1 medium onion, chopped , sautéed in a skillet in a little olive oil for about 3-5 minutes 
3 cloves garlic, chopped 
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
zest of 1 lemon
kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
chopped Italian parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 375F.  Lightly drizzle a little olive oil in a glass, or enamel baking pan. Add chicken and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together olive oil, lemon juice, sautéed onion, garlic, thyme and oregano until well combined. Pour onion mixture over chicken and toss to coat. Nestle lemon slices around the chicken and season with salt and freshly cracked pepper. Sprinkle with the lemon zest.

Place chicken into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken), until chicken is thoroughly cooked and the juice is bubbling. Cover the pan and let chicken sit for 5 minutes and sprinkle with fresh parsley. 

Serve on top of rice, or mashed potatoes - making sure to spoon the juices on top.