by José Pizarro from ANDALUSIA Recipes from Seville and beyond (Hardie Grant)
José says “This is a classic one pot dish that I often make at home. Every part of the meal is comforting and delicious, but the truly heavenly bit is the crispy anchovy-flavoured chicken skin”.
Serves 6
Ingredients
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying
6 salted anchovies in extra virgin olive oil
1 free-range chicken (1.8 kg/3lb 15oz)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 banana shallots (eschalions), finely sliced
½ tbsp cumin seeds
½ tbsp sweet smoked pimenton de la Vera
1 tbsp hot smoked pimenton de la Vera
500g (1 lb 2 oz) Calasparra rice or another short-grain rice, soaked for 10 minutes in cold water and drained
zest and juice of ½ orange
100 g (3 ½ oz) dried apricots, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of rosemary
1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) chicken stock
small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6).
In small food processor or heavy pestle and mortar, blend the garlic cloves with the olive oil and half of the anchovies to a rough paste.
Carefully loosen the skin from the breasts of the chicken and rub the garlic and anchovy mixture underneath the skin.
Season well with salt. Place the chicken in a deep, lidded casserole dish and roast, uncovered, for 35 minutes, until the skin is golden.
Meanwhile, add a little oil to a saucepan and fry the shallots with the rest of the anchovies and a pinch of salt over a medium heat for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the cumin seeds and both types of pimenton and fry for 1–2 minutes, until fragrant. Mix in the rice, orange zest and juice and dried apricots. Add the bay leaf, rosemary and the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and set aside.
Remove the casserole dish from the oven, carefully lift out the chicken and place on a chopping board. Add the rice and stock mixture to the dish and place the chicken back on top. Reduce the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) and roast, covered, for 1 hour. At this point, check to see if the rice is cooked. If needed, add a little more stock and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Remove the casserole dish from the oven and lift the chicken back onto the chopping board, tipping it over the dish first so that any juices run back into the rice. Leave the chicken to rest for 5–10 minutes, loosely covered with foil. Taste the rice, season and stir through the parsley. Place the lid back on the dish to keep warm as you carve the chicken. Dish up onto warm plates with the rice.
Nigel’s alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages tasted alongside the dish. Frithsden Rosé & Gunrz.