ROTD - Chicken and Couscous, Spanish style

This is a pretty quick meal that is strongly reminiscent of the flavors of paella without the attention that paella requires. This recipe works best if you have a pressure cooker (or an Instapot/multicooker). You could pull it off on the stove top or in the oven, but I haven’t tried it, and the cooking times would obviously be extended. (Recipe geeked up from one published by America’s Test Kitchen)

Ingredients

6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs (you can use breasts if that’s your thing)

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Espelette powder for seasoning (optional, but it really helps with the heat of the dish)

1 1/2 Tbs Smoky paprika + some for seasoning the chicken

1 1/2T Olive oil

4 oz Spanish chorizo (not Mexican. If you’re wondering what the difference is, Spanish chorizo is a dried and cured sausage), cut into 1/4’ thick slices and quartered

1 ea finely diced medium Spanish onion

1 ea finely diced, seeded and stemmed red pepper

3/4 cup low sodium chicken stock (home made if you’ve got it, the best quality you can get otherwise)

1 tsp Vegetable base (I use the Better than Bouillon stuff in the glass jar)

3 cloves of garlic, minced (more if you’re a fan)

1/4 tsp Saffron threads

1 1/2 cups Couscous (the fine stuff, not pearl, I used the Far East brand stuff in a box)

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 tsp lemon juice (juice from one lemon)

3 Tbs minced parsley or cilantro

Gettin’ er done

Set your pressure cooker for sauteing

Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, espelette (if using) and smoky paprika, both sides.

Add the olive oil to the cooker

Place the chicken thighs skin side down in the olive oil. Let them brown for 5 - 7 minutes. Don’t flip them. Remove them and put them on a plate. Do this in multiple batches if you need to.

Add the red pepper, onion, smoked paprika and chorizo to the cooker. Cook until the onion and pepper soften (about 5 minutes)

Stir in the garlic and saffron. Heat for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.

Add the vegetable base and stir in the broth, scraping up any caramelized bits on the bottom. Set the chicken in the sofrito (the softened vegetables and fond), skin side up, adding any juices that came out while the chicken rested.

Close the lid and cook at high pressure. 17 minutes if you’re using a stove top pressure cooker. 12 minutes if you’re using a multicooker. Use the quick release method for your device to relieve the steam pressure.

Remove the chicken and set on a plate. Keep warm by tenting or putting in a warm oven. The sofrito in the cooker should have liquidized to provide enough fluid to cook the couscous. If you think there’s not enough liquid to fully hydrate the couscous, add some more chicken stock.

Stir the couscous, lemon juice and thawed peas into the pressure cooker. Cover and let sit for 5-7 minutes until the couscous absorbs the liquid and gets tender. Add the parsley/cilantro and gently fluff the couscous. Season if necessary.

Serve the couscous with the chicken (take the skin off if it wigs you out).