Ingredient: Lemon wedges

This is an excellent weeknight dinner.  Eaten with a tabbouleh (see note below for quick recipe) or a mixed salad, it makes for a balanced meal with plentiful proteins & some complex carbohydrate.

The original recipe by from Bon Appetit. I have followed it pretty much as is, except that I brown the chicken slightly more to get a really crisp skin.

You can use tinned chickpeas and good harissa from a jar, but I do love home-cooked chickpeas because they are more tender and unctuous. I happened to have some cooked chickpeas and homemade harissa (recipe coming soon) in the freezer so it was a perfect way to use up both.

If using tinned chickpeas, you will need 2 tins to get about 3 cups of drained chickpeas. If starting with dried chickpeas, you will need about 1 cup dried to yield 3 cups cooked. If cooking your own, cook more than you need and freeze to make hummus in the future or just to add to salads.

Use good quality skin-on chicken for this, as that’s the star of the show. The fat rendered when you cook the chicken skin down is great for stir-fries and roast veggies.

Print Recipe

Chicken with Chickpeas & Harissa

An excellent one-pot meal. For this recipe, I use a heavy rectangular roasting dish which can be used on the hob and in the oven. A heavy frying pan or casserole which is ovenproof and can be used on the hob would work well too. Just ensure the chicken skin doesn't touch the chickpea cooking liquid so that it retains its crispness in the oven.

Cuisine

Middle Eastern

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

40 minutes

Servings

generous servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas
• 3 to 4 tablespoons harissa paste or to taste
• 1/2 cup chicken stock from a stock cube is fine
• large handful fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 Lemon wedges for serving

Cuisine Middle Eastern Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 40 minutes Servings generous servings Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 8 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs sea salt & freshly ground black pepper 1 small onion finely chopped 2 cloves garlic finely chopped 2 tablespoons tomato paste 3 cups cooked chickpeas 3 to 4 tablespoons harissa paste or to taste 1/2 cup chicken stock from a stock cube is fine large handful fresh flat-leaf parsley 4 Lemon wedges for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220C (200C fan).
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in the ovenproof roasting dish that you are using. Meanwhile, pat the chicken dry and season chicken well with salt and pepper. Working in 2 batches, place the chicken skin down in the dish.

   
3. Cook on this side until a deep golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. The skin should be well-crisped and fat should have rendered from the skin. Flip over and brown the underside for another 3-4 mintues. Transfer to a plate.

   
4. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the chicken fat from pan. Add onion and garlic.

   
5. Cook, stirring often until softened, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until beginning to darken, about 1 minute.

   
6. Add cooked chickpeas, harissa, and broth; bring to a simmer. (if using homecooked chickpeas, you might need to add a little extra water).

   
7. Nestle chicken, skin side up, on the chickpeas. Transfer pan to the preheated oven.

   
8. Roast until chicken is cooked through, 15-20 minutes. To check doneness, pierce the thickest part of the thigh and the juice should run clear. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Recipe Notes

• For a simple tabbouleh, you need generous amounts of chopped parsley, chopped cucumber, tomato, spring onions and a small quantity of cooked grain like bulgur, couscous, quinoa etc.  Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt & pepper. Let sit 30 minutes before serving.
• Good additions include crumbled feta or pomegranate seeds.

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