Colm O'Gorman: Warm up with this comforting Moroccan-inspired dish 

Colm O'Gorman's Rfissa — Moroccan Chicken and Lentils with Pappardelle Pasta.

The weather appears to be turning. I had to wear a jacket when leaving the house one day this week and there is a definite chill in the morning air. This sort of weather always gets me thinking about and cooking warming comfort food, soups and casseroles in particular. This week I made a variation on a Moroccan dish: Rfissa — a lovely chicken and lentil dish cooked in a beautiful fenugreek-flavoured broth.

In Morocco, this dish is served on a bed of shredded flatbreads or pastry, but as Moroccan flatbread are not so readily available here, I serve my version on a bed of pasta. Pappardelle is perfect for this, but you could also use fusilli. Because I serve this with pasta instead of shredded flatbreads, I also reduced the amount of liquid I use in this recipe to make a thicker sauce rather than a thin broth.

I use a whole chicken broken down into six portions when I cook this, but if you prefer, for convenience you could use 1.5kg of chicken portions. Legs and thighs would be perfect, but if you do use some breast portions, make sure they are still on the bone as that will give you the best flavour.

Ras el hanout spice blend is readily available from most supermarkets. Fenugreek seed is the other important spice for this dish. You will get that from most good health food stores or from any Asian supermarket. While this is a straightforward dish to cook, it does require some forward planning as the lentils and fenugreek seeds need to soak overnight or for at least six hours, and the chicken needs the same amount of time to marinade. The marinade for the chicken is very simple to put together, just make sure you do it well in advance of when you want to cook.

Rfissa: Moroccan chicken and lentils with pappardelle pasta

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

A lovely chicken and lentil dish cooked in a beautiful fenugreek-flavoured broth.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 50 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 35 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 25 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Moroccan

Ingredients

• 1 large chicken, about 1.8kg

• 3-4 onions, about 500g

• 1 tsp saffron threads

• 1 ½ tsp ground ginger

• 1 tbsp Ras el Hanout spice blend

• 1 ½ tsp turmeric powder

• 1 tbsp flaky sea salt

• 2 tsp ground black pepper

• 250 ml olive oil

• 150g dried brown or green lentils

• 30g fenugreek seeds

• 15g fresh coriander

• 15g fresh flat-leaf parsley

• 600ml cold water

• 100g dried pappardelle pasta per person

Method

1. Portion the chicken into six pieces.

2. Begin by pulling a leg away from the body to see where it attaches. To remove the whole leg, first cut through the skin between the thigh and the breast, and then when you can see where the thigh meets the socket in the back, use a sharp knife to cut through that joint. Repeat with the other leg.

3. Next, remove the backbone. Lay the chicken breast side down and starting at the head end of the bird, cut through the rib cage on one side of the backbone with a kitchen shears or sharp knife. Repeat on the other side of the backbone to remove it completely.

4. Turn over the crown and using a heavy sharp knife, cut down the centre through the breastbone and cartilage to separate the breast. Be careful with this as you will need to use your weight to push down through the bone. You will now have two breast portions. I leave the wings on as this adds more flavour to the dish, but you can remove those if you wish. Cut each breast in half again across the middle and you have your six portions.

5. Peel and thinly slice the onions. Soak the saffron threads in a tablespoon or two of hot water for about 10 minutes.

6. Put the chicken in a large casserole dish along with the onion, saffron and its water, the ginger, Ras el Hanout, turmeric, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Mix well to combine the marinade and coat the chicken. Cover the pot and leave it to marinade in the fridge for at least six hours, or overnight if possible.

7. Put the lentils and fenugreek seeds into two separate bowls of cold water and allow them to soak overnight, or for at least six hours.

8. When the chicken has marinated, remove the pieces from the pot, leaving the onions and marinade there. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat and sear the chicken all over to brown the skin and seal the meat. Add the chicken back to the pan with the onions and marinade.

9. Drain and rinse the lentils and the fenugreek seeds and add them to the pan, along with 600ml of cold water. Stir well and bring the pot to a simmer.

10. Wash and chop the herbs, you can use the thin stalks of both herbs as they are full of flavour, just chop them finely and add to the pot.

11. When the pot starts to bubble reduce the heat, pop on the lid, and simmer for one hour. Check about thirty minutes in to make sure there is enough liquid in the pot and add another 200ml or so if needed.

12. Once the lentils are tender and the chicken is perfectly cooked your Rfissa is ready. Taste and add more seasoning if required.

13. Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil and pop in 100g or dried pasta per person. Cook the pappardelle for three to four minutes, until it is just cooked but still has some bite.

14. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot and add a ladleful of the lentils and broth from the Rfissa, stirring it in to keep the pasta moist.

15. Divide the pasta between individual dishes. Add a generous serving of lentils and broth and a portion of chicken to each dish. Roughly chop some more flat leaf parsley and scatter some over the top.

16. Serve with any remaining broth, lentils and chicken in the middle of the table so that everyone can help themselves to seconds. Some fresh crusty bread to soak up the broth is also highly recommended.