When we made this rustic chicken in the test kitchen, it turned out that nearly every one of us knew the recipe and had cooked it before — not just once, but many times. Yeah, it’s just a simple sheet-pan chicken, but it has everything going for it: you can throw it together with very little notice, it always comes out perfectly, and its big Mediterranean flavors never fail to delight friends and family.

Essentially, you coat the chicken with olive oil, salt, and aromatics — thyme, rosemary, and red pepper flakes — and then bake it with a scattering of whole garlic cloves and pancetta. Here’s the magical part: about halfway through, when the skin is just turning golden brown, you drizzle a cup of wine over it and then add a bunch of olives to the pan.

The chicken comes out of the oven with super crispy skin and juicy, tender meat. The thing to do is cut a slice and then stack it with all the goodies: sweet, soft garlic, crispy pancetta, and warm olives. It’s heavenly, and so are the pan juices. We like to serve the chicken with a pile of grilled toast and encourage our guests to sop up all that herby, briny, salty, smoky stuff with it.