Chicken with Orzo and Tomatoes

Orzo (rice shaped) pasta is a great ingredient to add to braised meats as it soaks up all those lovely juices. It used to be hard to find, but these days you can buy it from most large supermarkets. There is very little preparation to this dish, you just assemble it, and bung it in the oven to cook.

Finely chop one onion, and place in a shallow casserole dish with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add a cupful of dried orzo, mix evenly with the onions across the base of the dish. sprinkle over some finely chopped garlic and a pinch of black pepper. Place 6-8 chicken thighs skin side down on top of the onion and orzo. Pour over a can of chopped tomatoes, and sprinkle the dish with all purpose seasoning. Place in the oven at 180C for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, take out the dish and turn the thighs over so they are skin side up, and sprinkle with a little more all purpose seasoning. If the pasta looks too dry, add a little water. Return the dish to the oven for 15-20 minutes, when the thighs should be cooked, the skin browned, and all those juices soaked up by the orzo (slurp!).

Serve with a green salad.

Notes:

• Salt can be used in place of all purpose seasoning.

• You can add some dried chilli flakes to the onions and orzo for a little extra punch.

• You can use the same mix of onions, garlic, tomato and orzo around a roast lamb joint - its delicious!