Oregano chicken with orzo and a quick tapenade
The tapenade takes two minutes and does the work of a much longer sauce.
At a Glance
Story
Crème fraîche stirred into hot pasta will not split the way cream does. It is soured, so its proteins have already been through the acid that would otherwise curdle them in the pot, and it carries more fat besides. That is why a spoonful off the heat gives you a sauce and a splash of double cream in the same place gives you a pot of grainy white flecks.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 4 oz orzo
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 4 oz sugar snap peasstrings pulled and halved crosswise
- 1 oz Niçoise olivespitted and finely chopped
- 1 clove garlicgrated to a paste
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
- 1 ½ oz fetacrumbled
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
The olives, vinegar and garlic take two minutes and are the whole seasoning of the dish. Make them first and let them sit.
- Salted water on to boil. Chop the olives finely and stir them with the garlic paste, half the vinegar and a teaspoon of olive oil. Taste and season. That is the tapenade. Leave it.
- Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt, pepper and the oregano. Medium pan, a teaspoon of oil, medium-high. 6 to 7 minutes a side, until browned and 165°F. Onto a board, foil over it, and leave the browned bits in the pan.
- Orzo into the water, 7 to 9 minutes, until tender. Drain and return to the pot.
- Straight into the chicken pan, a little oil, the snap peas, seasoned. 2 to 3 minutes, until browned at the edges and still squeaky.
- Peas, crème fraîche, feta and the remaining vinegar into the orzo. Stir, taste, season.
- Slice the chicken across, sit it on the orzo, and spoon the tapenade over the top.
Snap peas want to stay crunchy. The moment they go limp and army-green you have lost the only textural contrast in the bowl.
More to cook
Chicken and gnocchi with a pecan gremolata
The gnocchi cook in the broth, and the pesto turns what is left into a sauce.
Chipotle-glazed chicken bites over poblano rice
Cornstarch, not flour, which is the only reason the crust survives the glaze.
Pork bánh mì rice bowls
All the bánh mì furniture, none of the bread, and a pickle that takes ten minutes.
Balsamic chicken and roast roots in spicy honey butter
The butter goes on after roasting, never before, and it matters more than it sounds.
Falafel and chicken in one pita
Feta goes into the falafel mix, not on top, and it changes the whole thing.
Gochujang-glazed meatloaf with delicata squash
Fifteen minutes of prep, and the squash needs no peeling whatsoever.
One-pot shrimp udon with lime
Nothing gets drained, so the starch off the noodles thickens the sauce for you.
Shawarma turkey meatballs over couscous
Foil over the pan for the first six minutes, which is the whole trick.
Shrimp and orange-chili noodles
Fifteen minutes. The noodles are heated in the bowl they get dressed in.
Chicken and chickpea pitas
Fifteen minutes, one pan, and a tahini sauce loosened with honey.
Chickpea and yellow curry shakshuka
One pan, one jar of curry paste, and eggs dropped in at the end.
Crispy chicken cutlets in a tomato cream
The sauce is made in the frying pan after the oil comes out, not before.
Falafel and farro, everything marinated
The falafel mix needs ten minutes alone before you touch it. Rush that and it crumbles.
Harissa-honey chicken and pearl couscous
The dates go into warm water first, which is the difference between chewy and molten.
Kimchi butter shrimp
Butter and kimchi make a pan sauce in about ninety seconds. Have the rice ready.