Ingredients

Makes 4 to 6 servings

• 2½ to 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon butter

• 12 ounces (2 cups) orzo pasta

• 1½ cups chopped onion (about 1 medium onion)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2¼ ;cups chicken stock

• ¾-cup canned crushed tomatoes (including juices)

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Procedure

1. To save time, while the chicken is browning, prep the onion, garlic, and parsley. You can easily swap out the thighs for bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Depending on the size of the pieces you may want to cut them in half. If you use boneless, skinless thighs or breasts do not brown them as long in the first step. They will not need as much cooking time as the bone-in, skin-on thighs.

2. Prep and salt the chicken: Trim the chicken thighs of excess skin and fat. Sprinkle both sides with a little salt.

3. Brown the chicken thighs: Heat olive oil and melt butter on medium high heat in a large cast iron skillet (large enough to fit all of the chicken pieces) to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, pat the chicken pieces dry on both sides with paper towels and place skin-side down in the pan. Let cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken has browned on one side. Then turn the chicken pieces over and cook for another 4 minutes until lightly browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet, set aside.

4. Brown the orzo pasta, add onions, garlic: Add the orzo pasta to the skillet. Stir to coat and let the pasta brown. Once the orzo starts to brown, stir in the chopped onions. Reduce the heat to medium and let cook, stirring often for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions begin to soften. Add the minced garlic and cook a half minute more.

5. Stir together stock, tomatoes, salt, pepper: In a large measuring cup, stir together the chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt.

6. Add back chicken, pour stock mixture over orzo: Place the chicken pieces skin-side up on top of the orzo. Pour the stock tomato mixture over the orzo. Increase heat to medium high and let the stock in the skillet come to a full boil.

7. Cover and cook: Lower the heat to the lowest heat you need to maintain a bare simmer. Cover and let cook until the orzo has completely absorbed the liquid and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

8. Taste for salt and pepper and add more if needed. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley to serve.