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Chicken, cinnamon and sweet tomato orzo

Preparation time
less than 30 mins

Cooking time
1 to 2 hours

Serves
Serves 6

By Georgina Hayden
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 5 ripe tomatoes
  • 400g/14oz orzo
  • 1 litre/1¾ pint hot chicken stock
  • 6 chicken thighs, on the bone and skin on
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • 250g/9oz cherry tomatoes on the vine
  • 4 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 75g/2½oz halloumi (or salted anari ricotta cheese)
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Greek salad

  • 2 Little Gem Lettuce, cut into thin wedges
  • 2 banana shallots, sliced
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • small handful black olives, stoned and torn
  • 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Pour the olive oil into a wide casserole pan and add the chopped onions and garlic. Place on a medium-low heat and fry for 10 minutes, or until starting to soften. Add the cinnamon stick and tomato purée to the pan and stir for a minute. Coarsely grate in the large tomatoes, give everything a stir, then stir in the orzo and hot stock.

  2. Toss the chicken thighs with the allspice and a generous pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the chicken on top of the orzo, skin side-up, and dot around the vines of tomatoes and the sprigs of oregano. Drizzle everything with olive oil and place in the oven for around 30 minutes.

  3. Towards the end of this cooking time, boil a kettle. When 30 minutes is up, remove the casserole pan from the oven. Carefully pour 150ml/5fl oz of boiling water all around the orzo (avoiding pouring the water on the chicken skin) and return to the oven. Cook for a further 20–25 minutes, or until the chicken skin is crisp and golden-brown, and the meat is tender.

  4. Remove from the oven, leave it to rest for 5 minutes, then grate the cheese over.

  5. To make the Greek salad, put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together.

  6. To serve, put a spoonful of the chicken into a plate alongside the salad.

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