Sear-Roasted Chicken with Lemon Butter Cream Sauce

Easy crisp-tender chicken with the creamiest lemon butter sauce ever - you'll want to forget the chicken and drink the sauce instead. And it calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, one of my favourite cuts, since they're inexpensive and hard to screw up.

8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 lemon, freshly squeezed
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 cups baby spinach, chopped

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Season chicken thighs with paprika, salt and pepper.

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; drain excess fat and set aside.

Melt remaining Tbsp. butter in the skillet. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, Parmesan, lemon juice and thyme.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat, stir in spinach, and simmer until the spinach has wilted and the sauce has slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet.

Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165°F, about 25-30 minutes.

Serve immediately.