If you don’t own harissa, what are you waiting for? It’s a delicious sauce made from roasted red peppers and spices. The brand that we use is mild, but you can buy it with some kick as well.
The crispy chicken paired with the caramelized veggies and the delicious flavour of the sauce is seriously good.
Another great thing about this recipe, is that it is made in one pan, yet again! This might be a theme for us this year (read: less mess). It all comes together in less than an hour but it tastes like you’ve worked a lot harder than that!
Serves 2 (easily doubled)
Adapted from Bon Appétit
If you double the recipe, use a larger pan or 2 cast iron pans
Ingredients:
4 small bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
kosher salt
1 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced, fronds reserved for serving
2 medium leeks, halved lengthwise, cleaned, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
10 baby potatoes, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mild harissa sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
Fennel salad:
1/3 of the sliced fennel
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F and put a rack on 1/3 top of the oven.
Start by slicing the fennel bulb as thin as you can.
Make the salad: In a small bowl, add 1/3 of the fennel, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Mix and set aside.
Sprinkle chicken with salt. In a large cast-iron pan, put chicken skin side down and arrange potatoes around chicken. Turn pan on to medium after you’ve added the chicken and potatoes. Cook, without moving chicken, but tossing potatoes occasionally, for about 15 mins.
Transfer chicken and potatoes to a plate, being careful with the chicken skin. It might take a little nudging to get out of the pan.
Make the sauce: Turn off the heat and add harissa to pan. Stir into chicken fat and then pour harissa sauce into a small bowl. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice to harissa, set aside.
Turn heat back onto medium and add the 1 tbsp olive oil, remaining fennel, chopped leeks and garlic. Sauté for about 10 minutes until veggies soften.
Add the chicken (skin side up) and potatoes back into the pan. Brush the harissa sauce onto chicken skin and potatoes.
Transfer pan to top rack in oven and cook for 15 minutes.
Top with fennel salad and fronds.
YUM!! xx2DA