Levantine chicken baked rice

Name: Levantine chicken baked rice
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 408 g pack The Levantine Table Slow-Cooked Chicken with Apricot, Saffron & Preserved Lemon; 200 g basmati rice; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 1 tbsp Cooks’ Ingredients Ruby Rose Harissa Paste; 4 tbsp Greek yogurt; 120 g baby spinach; 50 g pomegranate seeds; 20 g toasted flaked almonds; 25 g pack flat leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped

Gentle spicing and plenty of colour make this just right for a winter evening. It’s important to use the right size baking dish here, for perfectly cooked rice.

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Serves4
CourseMain meal
Prepare10 mins
Cook25 mins
Total time35 mins

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Ingredients

408g pack The Levantine Table Slow-Cooked Chicken with Apricot, Saffron & Preserved Lemon
200g basmati rice
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp Cooks’ Ingredients Ruby Rose Harissa Paste
4 tbsp Greek yogurt
120g baby spinach
50g pomegranate seeds
20g toasted flaked almonds
½ x 25g pack flat leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 230ºC, gas mark 8. Boil a kettle of water. Tip the contents of the chicken pouch into a baking dish about 30cm x 20cm and use 2 forks to shred the meat into bitesized pieces. Tip in the rice and salt and stir until thoroughly coated in the sauce from the chicken.
Just before you are ready to bake, pour 350ml just-boiled water over the chicken and rice and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 25 minutes then take from the oven and leave to steam, still covered with foil, for a further 10 minutes. This will help to finish cooking the rice.
While the rice is baking, stir the harissa through the yogurt and set aside. Use a fork to fluff up the rice and stir through the spinach, letting it sit for 2-3 minutes covered with the foil, until lightly wilted.
To serve, divide the rice between bowls and scatter with the pomegranate seeds, almonds and parsley, with the harissa yogurt on the side.

Cook’s tip

Add more veg to this dish by roasting off 1cm rounds of shallot and leek with a little oil in the ovenproof dish, covered in foil, for 40 minutes before adding the chicken and rice.