Herb and Olive Oil Marinated Chicken with Orzo Aglio e Olio Recipe
If you’ve never experimented with brining meat, this recipe is a great place to start. The brining and marinating are easy, but take time—so plan a day or two ahead. The result is well worth it.
Ingredients
| Chicken | ||
| 2 | quarts | cold water |
| 1/4 | cup | Kosher salt |
| 8 | bone-in chicken thighs, skinned, fat trimmed | |
| 1/2 | cup | extra virgin olive oil |
| 8 | cloves | garlic, bruised with the side of a knife |
| 2 | teaspoons | chopped rosemary |
| 1/4 | teaspoon | coarsely ground black pepper |
| 1 | pound | orzo |
| Oven Dried Tomatoes (see below), cut into strips |
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| 1 | teaspoon | fresh thyme leaves |
| 1-inch | sprigs | thyme and rosemary for garnish |
| ~ | picholine olives for garnish* | |
| Oven Dried Tomatoes | ||
| 6 | ripe | red tomatoes |
| 6 | cloves | garlic, roughly chopped |
| 6 | sprigs | thyme, roughly chopped, stems and all |
| 1/2 | cup | good quality olive oil |
| *If picholine green olives are unavailable, try another green olive. If those are unavailabe, use your favorite black olives. Always remember to remove the pits before including them in the recipe. |
Directions
Chicken
- In a large bowl, combine the water and salt.
- Add the chicken and refrigerate, covered, 2 to 3 hours.
- Drain, rinse the chicken, and pat dry. See How To Brine Poultryfor in-depth information on brining.
- In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary and pepper.
- Place the chicken in a resealable bag and add the olive oil mixture.
- Seal, eliminating as much air as possible, and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and allow to stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade. Reserve the marinade (including the rosemary and garlic pieces).
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chicken until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
- Transfer the chicken to a baking dish and bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, add the reserved marinade to the skillet. Cook, over medium-low heat, until the garlic is light golden brown and tender, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the orzo in a large pot of boiling, salted water until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and transfer the chicken pieces to a separate dish.
- Add the cooked orzo, marinade, dried tomatoes and thyme leaves to the chicken juices in the baking dish, stirring to blend.
- Tuck the chicken thighs into the orzo, garnish with rosemary and thyme sprigs and olives, and serve.
Oven Dried Tomatoes
Preheat oven to 200F °
- Quarter the tomatoes, then cut out the inner flesh and seeds.
- Blot the remaining tomato “fillets” with paper tomatoes and arrange them on a sheet pan, skin side down.
- Sprinkle the garlic and thyme over the tomatoes, then drizzle with the olive oil.
- Roast for about 2 hours, or until most of the water has evaporated.
Preparation Time:
