Spiced Harissa Chicken Thighs with Couscous and Peppers
Chicken thighs rubbed with toasted warm spices and harissa, roasted until charred at the edges, with couscous and sweet peppers soaking up all the juices in the same pan.
- Total
- 60 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 40 · Rest 5
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Toasting spices · Rendering fat
- Savory
- Spicy
- Oven
- One pan
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 220°C. Pat the chicken thighs dry. In a bowl, mix 1 tbsp olive oil, the harissa, curry powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, garlic powder, 1 tsp salt and the black pepper into a paste. Rub it all over the chicken.
~8 min
Rubbing spices onto dry chicken helps the paste cling and bloom in the oven's heat for deeper flavor.
Toasting the ground spices in the hot oil for 30 seconds before adding the chicken blooms their oils and gives the dish a deeper, warmer flavor.
Toasting spices Mix spices into the oil paste and let them sit briefly; toasting wakes their oils. Watch for a fragrant smell, not a burnt one.
-
Put the oven-safe skillet over the oven's heat source or in the hot oven with the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil for 2 minutes until shimmering. Add the chicken skin-side down and roast 12 minutes until the surface is charred and the chicken releases easily. Move the chicken to a plate.
~14 min
Preheating the skillet ensures immediate high-heat contact, driving Maillard browning and rendering the skin crisp.
Rendering fat Cook chicken skin-side down undisturbed until the fat pools and skin releases easily. Rushing leaves rubbery skin and unrendered fat.
-
While step 2 cooks
While the chicken roasts, cut the red onion into 1 cm wedges and the peppers into 2 cm strips. Add them to the hot skillet with the rendered fat and roast 8 minutes until the onion edges brown.
~8 min
Roasting vegetables in rendered chicken fat builds flavor and starts softening them before the couscous steams.
Rendering fat Cook chicken skin-side down undisturbed until the fat pools and skin releases easily. Rushing leaves rubbery skin and unrendered fat.
-
Stir the couscous and 300 ml water into the skillet with the vegetables and the remaining 0.5 tsp salt. Spread it level.
~3 min
Spreading couscous level lets water absorb evenly, preventing dry patches and gummy clumps.
-
Nestle the chicken thighs on top of the couscous, cover the skillet and bake 15 minutes until the couscous has absorbed the water and the chicken reaches 74°C at the thickest part.
~15 min
Covering traps steam so couscous absorbs water while chicken finishes cooking gently on top.
If the couscous still feels firm after baking, add 2 tbsp hot water, cover and let it steam 3 minutes off the heat.
-
Take the skillet out and rest 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and serve the chicken on top.
~5 min
Resting lets juices redistribute so they stay in the meat instead of running out when cut.