One-pan crispy spaghetti and chicken is a great midweek family favourite.
Begin by browning chicken pieces on the stovetop. Nestle these atop a bed of broken spaghetti in a braising liquid. We make the simple stock with tomato paste, chicken fat, seasoning and some thyme. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes. The spaghetti magically absorbs wonderful chicken-y flavours as it swells and cooks. It gets a bit crispy on the sides and bottom of the pan where it fries a little. A topping of toasted, aromatic herb-infused breadcrumbs provides a delightful crunch. This contrasts beautifully with the tender chicken and pasta beneath.
This is such a simple but delicious dish. When you’re making it, you'll think ‘this is never going to work!’. Somehow it does. Every time. This is an Ottolenghi dish with a few minor tweaks to the ingredients and method.
There’s no onion or garlic (some of the ‘minor tweaks’) for those of you like me who avoid them.
One-pan crispy spaghetti and chicken comes together in about an hour. There's very little washing up. There's no chopping of ingredients. It will become one of your reliable favourites.
🥘 Ingredients
Chicken Thighs - boneless fillets lie flat on the pasta for even, quick cooking. Skin-on chicken helps achieve beautiful browning, rich flavour and preserves chicken tenderness. The skin protects the meat from drying out during cooking. The fat rendered from the skin flavours the rest of the dish. It's worth noting that the skin will lose some of its crispness due to the covered cook at the start.
It can be difficult to find chicken thighs that have the skin but not the bone. You can either cut out the bones yourself or, better still, get your friendly butcher to do it for you! Keep the bones for Chicken Noodle Soup or chicken stock.
Tomato Paste – a small amount provides intense flavour. Frying it first in chicken schmaltz is reminiscent of a sofrito like we use in Chicken Paella.
Panko – large dried Japanese bread flakes. These are readily available. Used instead of fresh breadcrumbs for convenience, consistency and the ultimate crunch. Panko is a great pantry staple. Perfect for coating flattened chicken breasts to make schnitzels too.
Fresh Thyme – used in the braising liquid and the topping. This adds freshness and fragrance. Feel free to substitute with other robust herbs, such as sage, oregano or rosemary.
Spaghetti – this low-profile pasta shape works well. It sits under the surface of the liquid when first added so that it won't burn or get too crisp.
Parmesan – a little goes a long way. We grate a small piece into the topping to add intense savoury salty Italian flavour.
Parsley – adds colour and freshness to the breadcrumb topping.
Lemon Zest – amazing how the zest from a single lemon can make such a difference. Cuts through the richness of the dish. Source an unwaxed/organic lemon or wash the skin well to use.
🔪 Instructions
Prepare & Brown the Chicken
Begin by patting the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. This is a crucial step to ensure proper browning. Moisture impedes the process.
Season the skin side of the chicken well with salt and pepper. Place half the chicken pieces, skin side down, into a hot, dry pan over medium heat.
All the meat will cook together in the oven in a single layer. However, it's best to brown it in batches, allowing ample space around each piece. Only the skin side needs browning, as we're not aiming to cook the chicken all the way through at this stage.
The goal of browning the skin side of the chicken pieces is to render (melt) the fat and achieve an appealing colour on the chicken skin. Melting the fat provides us with liquid chicken fat (schmaltz). We can flavour the entire dish without the need for extra oil.
You'll know it's time to remove the chicken when the pieces lift easily from the pan. If they stick a bit, don't worry; give them another minute and try again. Transfer the browned chicken, skin side up, to a plate. The pan's inverted lid can be handy for this, saving you an extra dish to wash.
Repeat the browning process for the remaining chicken pieces and set aside.
While the chicken browns, use your time to organize the other ingredients.
Prepare the Dish for Baking
After browning the chicken skin, you should have a couple of tablespoons of chicken fat in the pan; don't discard it!
Add fresh thyme leaves and tomato paste to the pan and sauté for a couple of minutes. A flexible spatula is useful for spreading the paste on the hot surface. The paste will thicken and darken.
Pour in some hot water from the kettle. Season with salt and pepper. You've created a flavourful broth to cook the spaghetti.
Break the spaghetti lengths into thirds, approximately a hand's width each. Take about half of the strands at a time, break off a third and add to the pan. Break the remaining length of spaghetti in half. Repeat with the remaining spaghetti. Move the strands to ensure they are evenly distributed and submerged in the liquid.
Nestle the chicken pieces, skin side up, snugly over the spaghetti in a single layer.
Bring the liquid to a simmer, then cover with a lid or tightly with foil and transfer the entire pan to the oven. Bake for 25 minutes. You can get the topping ready in this time.
Creating the Topping
Use a small food processor to blend the topping ingredients, except for the Panko.
Panko breadcrumbs work wonders for achieving a great crunch. This is due to their large, irregular shape. After blending, gently fold in the Panko to preserve this texture.
NB: I've now switched to preparing the topping by hand, using a fine grater (Microplane) for the parmesan and lemon zest and a sharp knife for the herbs. It's just as quick. This is probably because my small food processor isn't great at dealing with such small quantities of ingredients.
Finishing Touch
Remove the pan from the oven. Adjust the oven rack to position the pan close below the grill/broiler. Preheat the grill to its maximum setting.
Sprinkle the topping over the dish, ensuring an even coverage.
Place the pan under the grill for 5 minutes, or until the topping is browned and crisped.
Allow the dish to rest briefly before serving. Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Shallow wide heavy-based pan (one that can be used on the stove and transfer to the oven (no plastic handles!). It needs to be wide enough to take all the chicken in a single layer, roughly 34cm diameter).
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thigh fillets, about 1 kg (skin left ON, no bone)
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh thyme (note)
- 45 g tomato paste
- 500 ml water
- 230 g spaghetti
- 20 g parmesan
- zest of one lemon
- big handful parsley leaves (about 15g)
- Tablespoon olive oil
- 20 g Panko
Instructions
- Preheat Oven – to 200°C.
- Dry Chicken – dry the chicken well on both sides with paper towel. Season liberally on the skin side with salt and pepper.8 chicken thigh fillets, about 1 kgsaltfreshly ground black pepper
- Brown Chicken – preheat the dry pan over medium heat. Place half the chicken pieces skin side down. Cook for 7-10 minutes, without turning, to brown well. We only need to brown the skin side. The chicken will lift easily (leave a bit longer if sticking). Transfer the browned chicken to a plate in a single layer, keeping the skin uppermost. Repeat with the second batch. We’re not aiming to cook the chicken all the way through. This will happen in the oven; we’re aiming to get very browned, crisp skin.
- Boil Water - get the kettle on for your boiling water.
- Thyme & Tomato Paste – add about a tablespoon of thyme leaves and the tomato paste to the fat in the pan. Cook, stirring often, for a couple of minutes. The tomato paste will darken and thicken up.fresh thyme45 g tomato paste
- Add Liquid – add the water, ½ teaspoon salt and some black pepper. Use a flat-ended spatula to deglaze, scraping up any stuck on delicious bits from the bottom of the pan.salt500 ml waterfreshly ground black pepper
- Spaghetti – Break the spaghetti lengths into thirds, approximately a hand's width each. Take about half of the strands at a time, break off a third and add to the pan. Break the remaining length of spaghetti in half. Repeat with the remaining spaghetti. Move the strands to ensure they are evenly distributed and submerged in the liquid.230 g spaghetti
- Chicken – top the spaghetti with the chicken pieces in a single layer, skin side up. Bring to a simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid or foil secured tightly at the edges. Transfer to the oven for 25 minutes, until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the spaghetti is cooked.
- Breadcrumb Topping - prepare while the pasta is in the oven. Combine in a small bowl. Finely grate the parmesan and lemon zest. Finely chop the parsley and a tablespoon of thyme/oregano. Add ½ teaspoon salt. Stir through the olive oil and then the Panko to coat.saltfresh thyme20 g Pankobig handful parsley leaveszest of one lemonTablespoon olive oil20 g parmesan
- Finish – remove the pan from the oven. Change the oven setting to grill/broil, setting a rack below with enough space for the pan. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the dish. Place under the grill for around 5 minutes, until nicely browned and crisp. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn! Leave to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
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