I love this recipe for a one pot meal. Chicken thighs are the star of the show here and work perfectly in this dish. Orzo is a nice change up from rice or your typical pasta choice and really takes on the flavours from the other ingredients really well. Make plenty so you can have leftovers the next day.
Ingredients
For the orzo
3 tbsp butter
Drizzle of olive oil
450g orzo pasta
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from 3 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
1 litre Carol’s Stock Market Chicken Stock
Salt & pepper
50g freshly grated parmesan, plus extra for serving
For the chicken
6 bone-in chicken thighs
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp flaky salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
80g honey
3 tbsp lemon juice
Zest from 1 lemon
1/8 tsp chilli flakes
Serves
3-4
Method
For the orzo, melt the butter with a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
Once butter has melted and is starting to bubble, add the orzo pasta. Stir well to coat the pasta, then toast the orzo until about half of it is a lovely nutty brown colour, stirring occasionally so that the pasta doesn’t burn.
Add the garlic and half of the rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Pour in Carol’s chicken stock along with a good pinch of salt and some pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat so stock is just simmering. Place lid on the pot and cook until orzo is just tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so that orzo doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
While orzo is cooking, pre-heat oven grill to high.
Place chicken thighs in a large bowl and drizzle over 2-3 tbsp olive oil over the chicken, along with the smoked paprika, garlic powder, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.
Toss the chicken thighs well so that they’re nicely coated with the seasoning, then arrange them skin-side down on a large baking tray lined with tinfoil.
Place under the hot grill and cook for 6 minutes, then turn thighs over and grill for another 6 minutes.
Stir together the honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, and chilli flakes then brush the tops of the chicken with the honey mixture and grill again for 1 minute. Turn chicken over, brush with more honey, and grill for another minute. Repeat once or twice until chicken is crispy and sticky with the honey glaze.
To finish the orzo, stir in the parmesan cheese and remaining rosemary.
Spoon creamy orzo onto plates and serve with the chicken thighs. Finish off with a fresh grating of parmesan.