Ever heard of rfissa? It's this delightful Moroccan chicken tagine dish served with thin strips of pan-fried bread known as trid, topped with lentils. Usually, making trid is quite a time-consuming task, so when I stumbled upon some papardelle in my cupboard a few weeks back, a lightbulb went off in my head. Why not substitute trid with pasta? I'd been craving rfissa but never mustered the energy to make trid from scratch.
I'll admit, I was a tad hesitant. After all, pasta's texture is quite different from that of trid. Trid has this unique bread-like consistency that perfectly soaks up all the juices and onion sauce of rfissa. But I decided to take a leap of faith, cooking the pasta al dente to ensure it could absorb the flavors and hopefully mimic the texture of trid.
The end result? It was a revelation! I found all the rich flavors of rfissa without the laborious task of making trid. This recipe, handed down from my mom, is refreshingly simple and can be whipped up in just about an hour from start to finish.
RFISSA EXPRESS – FRAGRANT CHICKEN AND LENTILS WITH PAPARDELLE :
Ingredients:
- - 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- - 4 large chicken legs
- - 3 large onions, sliced
- - 20g of fresh coriander, finely chopped (plus extra for garnish if desired)
- - 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- - 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
- - 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- - 1 teaspoon of ras el hanout
- - ¾ teaspoon of salt (adjust to taste)
- - ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
- - A pinch of saffron threads
- - 200ml of vegetable or chicken stock
- - 1 x 400g can of green lentils, drained
- - 500g of papardelle, cooked according to package instructions
Instructions:
1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Place the chicken legs skin-side down in the hot oil and sear for about 5 minutes until they're golden brown. Ensure the oil is very hot before adding the chicken to achieve a good sear. The skin will naturally release from the pan once seared. Transfer the seared chicken to a dish and set aside.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the saucepan. Add the sliced onions, cover, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Add in the chopped coriander, crushed garlic, turmeric, ginger, ras el hanout, salt, pepper, and saffron. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Return all the seared chicken legs to the pan and pour in the stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes until the chicken is nearly cooked, stirring occasionally. If needed, add a couple of tablespoons of water if the sauce looks dry during cooking.
4. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan. Adjust the consistency of the onion sauce - it should be pourable but not too thin. Add a few tablespoons of water if too dry, or reduce the sauce if too liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if necessary.
5. In a separate saucepan, warm the lentils with a ladle of the onion sauce over medium-low heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if needed.
6. While the lentils warm, return the chicken to the pan over low heat. Cook the papardelle according to package instructions, aiming for al dente. Drain the pasta and serve immediately with the chicken and lentils on top. Garnish with extra chopped coriander if desired.