One Pan Crispy Spanish Chicken and Rice

Ingredients

• 5 chicken thighs, bone in and optional skin on
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 oz / 160g, 6 pieces shortcut bacon trimmed of all fat, chopped, or smoked ham
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
• 2 vine ripened tomatoes, diced, or 1 small can diced tomatoes including juice
• 1 cup jarred fire roasted peppers in garlic, Piquillo, cut into strips
• 1 1/2 cups water mixed with 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
• 1/2 cup dry white wine *
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, not thawed
• Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. Set the oven to 200C | 390F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it well with paper towel. Sprinkle it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Warm a small amount of oil in a 10-12 inch cast iron pan over medium-high heat, letting it get hot without smoking. Add the chicken skin-side down and brown it on both sides, turning once, about 3 minutes each side. Move the chicken to a plate.
2. Spoon off half the fat in the pan, then add the onion and bacon. Cook, stirring now and then, until the onion is tender and the bacon has crisp edges, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, paprika and saffron, and cook just until they smell fragrant. Add the tomatoes and peppers, and cook until they soften. Pour in the stock or broth mixture and the wine, stirring everything together. Taste and add salt if it needs it.
3. Stir in the rice and let it bubble gently, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, giving it an occasional stir. Nestle the chicken back into the pan, along with any juices left on the plate. Cover the pan with a double layer of foil, then move it to the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
4. Remove the foil and make sure the rice is tender and the liquid has been taken up. Switch the oven to grill/broil on medium-high heat, depending on your oven. Lift the chicken onto a clean plate, then fold the peas into the rice, tucking them into the hot rice as much as you can. Set the chicken over the rice again and grill/broil for about 10 minutes, until the skin is crisp and deeply golden and the peas are heated through. Finish with fresh chopped parsley.