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Skillet Chicken and Rice With Anchovies and Olives
![Skillet Chicken and Rice With Anchovies and Olives](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/03/18/dining/lh-chicken-and-rice-with-anchovies/merlin_184703358_2b2067c5-bf73-4cf8-9906-c4e8e397cda2-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 6 thighs)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1medium fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and diced, plus more fennel fronds, for serving
- 1medium yellow onion, diced
- 1teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼cup roughly chopped anchovy fillets
- 5garlic cloves, minced
- ¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- ¾cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio
- 1cup long-grain white rice
- ¾cup pitted Castelvetrano or other green olives, halved lengthwise
- ⅓cup raisins, preferably golden
- 2cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1medium navel orange, ½ juiced and ½ thinly sliced
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a 12-inch skillet with a lid, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium. Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel and season them with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, place the thighs in the skillet, skin-side down. Cook, undisturbed, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown and the chicken releases easily from the pan. You may need to raise the heat slightly during the last few minutes if the skin isn’t browned enough.
- Step 2
Flip the chicken thighs and cook for 3 minutes on the other side, then transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Step 3
Discard all but about 3 tablespoons fat from the skillet. Add the diced fennel, onion and oregano, and cook over medium for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Add the anchovies, garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.
- Step 4
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until it begins to caramelize and turn rusty brown in color. Add the wine and cook, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid has almost completely evaporated.
- Step 5
Add the rice, olives and raisins to the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, orange juice and a few grinds of black pepper, and bring to a simmer.
- Step 6
Place the chicken thighs on top, skin-side up, nestling them into the liquid so only the skin is above the surface. Cut the orange slices into half-moons and arrange them around the chicken. Drizzle the orange slices with olive oil.
- Step 7
Cover and bake for 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. (If you’d like to crisp the chicken skin, pop the pan under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes.)
- Step 8
Top with fennel fronds, more red-pepper flakes and a sprinkle of salt. Serve hot.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Hot tip: If you just use a 12” skillet it will probably overflow. Try a Dutch Oven or a bigger skillet. I ended up with a stove top full of cooking liquid.
The recipe would likely benefit from less anchovies. I found the anchovies caused the other flavors to be muddled. Reducing the anchovies by half, increasing the juice to a full orange, and increasing the amount of golden raisins to a half cup might brighten up the flavors a bit. For me, all of the ingredients fit comfortably in a 12" cast iron skillet which I covered with tin foil for the oven. Completely cooked after 30 mins and then on broil to re-crisp the chicken skin.
The flavor of this was great! Added orange zest to increase orange flavor based on others' tips. I subbed brown rice which I would not recommend as it did not cook very well so would advise stick to white rice as the recipe recommends.
A little more prep time than I had anticipated and it took a bit longer in the oven to finish the rice. But oh my, this was delicious and so worth it! Interesting flavors that might be even more yummy on day 2, if the two of us don’t keep going back for just one more taste.
I made this as a last minute decision last night after seeing it on Facebook yesterday afternoon. I did not have time to run out to the grocery store so I did not have the fennel and had to sub anchovy paste for the fillets. Other than that, I followed the recipe although I cooked it on the stovetop. The contrast of the salty olives and sweet raisins was quite nice. Rice always tastes better cooked with the meat....delicious.
Any time I use an orange, I zest it before slicing or juicing. Even if you decide not to use the zest immediately, which I usually do, it keeps well in the freezer.
This came together fairly easily and the end result was worth it. Working from home has benefits; I was able to do the first 1/2 hours work during lunch break and then pop the chicken in the pot and the pot in the oven at the end of the day. I did remove the lid at the end to re-crisp the chicken. Served, as suggested , with wine and a simple salad. The tastes melded beautifully and it was ample for 4 with leftovers.
I used a cast iron dutch oven for this and it ended up tasting amazing! Followed the recipe exactly except used Chardonnay instead of Pinot Grigio. It was a hit amongst my friends too!
We made this with leek instead of fennel, eliminated the raisins, and added a bit more garlic. I used a combination of short grain whole rice and wild rice, which turned out really well. The dish was excellent. We'll definitely add it to the rotation.
I added 2 cups of chickpeas that were going bad and honestly that was too much and the texture became weird. Flavors were great though, especially the caramelized orange bits after broiling for a few min. I also substituted beer for wine which was not a great choice. Follow the recipe y’all!
OMG, this was good, although prep time took longer than I expected. My big change was to halve the recipe for the two of us and to use a cara cara orange instead of a navel, but I'll be making it for guests (first post-vaccine visitors) this weekend at the amounts as written, but will add a little lemon zest.
This was frankly very disappointing. I made this exactly per the recipe, as I always try to do when making something for the first time, and it was one of those examples where the sum of great-sounding parts failed to work as a whole. In spite of some pretty assertive ingredients, the overall flavor was muddled and astonishingly bland. I’m thinking that the addition of orange zest mentioned in others’ notes would help, but it’s very doubtful that I will have another go at this one :(
I made changes to this recipe: I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, eliminated the oranges, and fennel. Didn’t have have any. Added a 15oz can of diced tomatoes, used Sauvignon blanc, and Kalamata olives. It was just as good. 3/4/2024.
I used my iron skillet and closely followed the recipe. It turned out to be terrific. The plus is we have more for tomorrow.
Followed recipe to a T and it was absolutely delicious.
Similar to what others noted, this recipe did not pack the flavor punch I thought it would. I followed the recipe exactly but the flavors were muddy and muted. Similar to others' recommendations, I would add orange zest or lemon in place of the orange juice/slices but I probably won't make it again.
Will probably cook the rice separately next time and add less broth. Or try with different grain - cous cous?? Used whole small can of tomato paste. OJ but no slices. Breast tenderloins instead of thighs. No oven, stovetop all the way through.
Despite the allusions to Sicily, this dish didn't seem to live up to any particular profile associated with a regional cuisine I'm familiar with. It has the bones to be a tasty meal but, following the recipe closely, it comes off a bit too rich and heavy. My family likes anchovy, but this is too much by 2. The oranges add a nice flavor, but replacing them with lemons would brighten up an otherwise "dark" dish. There's potential, but I will make some adjustments if I get around to trying this
Make this last night exactly as written, and it was delicious. So well-balanced and we loved the different flavors tucked into each forkful. Tasted even better for lunch today!
This was one of the absolute best dishes I have made in recent memory. It’s hearty, easy, but with sophisticated flavors - the olive, anchovy, raisin, whole citrus zest… what a satisfying combination!
Subbed orzo for rice, added juice of whole orange added a diced leek and marinated chicken. Great dish after a great seahawks win!
Love this - but, yeah, used a Dutch oven rather than risk spillage. Giving it a minute or two under the broiler not only crisps the skin, it browns/caramelizes the orange slices nicely.
This. Was. Excellent. Had no overflow problems with my 12” Lodge cast iron. Used only one tin of drained anchovies (the ones I use are quite pungent to begin with), and next time might use more raisins! Prep takes a while but is so worth it.
Anchovy flavor very strong - won’t make it again.
I read the ingredients and couldn't wait to try this recipe...it was quite a bit of a to do and I seemed to use a lot of pans, etc. It was a nice, somewhat interesting chicken dish, but not really that special...
DELICIOUS!!! Followed the recipe to the letter (except didn’t break up anchovies before cooking as they break up so easily). Perfect combo of sweet and savory.
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