Slow-Cooked Chicken with a Crisp Corn Crust

by Yotam Ottolenghi, featured in Simple

Published by Ebury Press

Introduction

This is a wonderful meal on an autumn day, served with a crisp green salad. The slow-cooked chicken is packed full of flavour and the crust - gluten-free, rich and corny - makes for a welcome (and lighter) change to a heavier mash.

You can make the chicken well in advance if you want to get ahead: it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days or can be frozen for 1 month. You want it to go into the oven defrosted, though, so it will need thawing out of the freezer. The batter needs to be made fresh and spooned on top of the chicken just before the dish gets baked, but it then can just go back in the oven. It can also be baked a few hours in advance - just warm through for 10 minutes, covered in foil, before serving. I love the combination of the chicken and the corn, but the chicken also works well as it is, served on top of rice, in a wrap or with a buttery jacket potato.

As featured in

Simple

Image of Yotam Ottolenghi's Slow-Cooked Chicken with a Crisp Corn Crust — Photo by Jonathan Lovekin

Ingredients

Serves: 6

For the slow-cooked chicken

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 red onions (thinly sliced) - 500g
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
3 tablespoons rose harissa or 50% more or less, depending on variety (see note below)
2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
850 grams chicken thighs (skinless and boneless) - about 9-10 thighs
200 millilitres tomato passata
5 large tomatoes (quartered) - 400g
200 grams jarred roasted red peppers (drained and cut into 2cm thick rounds)
15 grams dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
20 grams fresh coriander (roughly chopped)
salt
black pepper

For the sweetcorn batter

70 grams unsalted butter (melted)
500 grams corn kernels (fresh or frozen and defrosted - from 4 large corn cobs, if starting from fresh)
3 tablespoons full fat milk
3 eggs (yolks and whites separated)

Method

Slow-Cooked Chicken with a Crisp Corn Crust is a guest recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe

Heat the oil in a large saute pan, for which you have a lid, on a medium high heat. Add the onions and fry for 8-9 minutes, stirring a few times, until caramelised and soft. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, harissa, paprika, chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then add the passata and tomatoes. Pour over 350ml of water, bring to the boil, then simmer on a medium heat, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring every once in a while.
Add the peppers and chocolate and continue to simmer for another 35-40 minutes, with the pan now uncovered, stirring frequently, until the sauce is getting thick and the chicken is falling apart. Remove from the heat and stir in the coriander. If you are serving the chicken as it is (as a stew without the batter), it's ready to serve (or freeze, once it's come to room temperature) at this stage. If you are making the corn topping, spoon the chicken into a ceramic baking dish - one with high sides that measures about 20 x 30cm - and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
Pour the butter into a blender with the corn, milk, egg yolks and ¾ teaspoon salt. Blitz for a few seconds, to form a rough paste, then spoon into a large bowl. Place the egg whites in a separate clean bowl and whisk to form firm peaks. Fold these gently into the runny corn mixture until just combined, then pour the mix evenly over the chicken.
Bake for 35 minutes, until the top is golden-brown: keep an eye on it after 25 minutes to make sure the top is not taking on too much colour: you might need to cover it with tin foil for the final 10 minutes. Remove from the ovne and set aside for 10 minutes before serving.

Additional Information

NOTE: Rose harissa is a heavily spiced North African chilli paste. The difference between harissa and rose harissa is the addition of the rose petals in the latter: generally speaking, they bring a special sweetness to the paste and soften the kick of the chilli. That being said, the range in kick between one harissa and the next, or one rose harissa and the next can be absolutely huge. Recipes in Ottolenghi SIMPLE have been tested with Belazu rose harissa, which I really like. If you're starting with something else, then, you'll need to taste what you have and gauge how much to use. A lot of supermarket-own brands aren't that punchy so you'll need to use 50% more than the recipe says. Much of the harissa or rose harissa that you buy from a North African shop, on the other hand, will have a really spicy kick so you'll need to use 50% less than the recipe says. With heat, it's always going to be a matter of taste and tolerance, so have a play around to see what works for you.