Chicken Giouvetsi

I was craving some good home style comfort food and one of the top recipes in my bookmarks was this one for chicken giouvetsi from Kalofagas. Giouvetsi is a one pot Greek dish where the meat is baked along with the pasta. The recipe for giouvetsi is quite simple and I realized immediately that the secret was that while the meat is cooking its juices drip right into the pasta where its flavours are absorbed. I really like one pot meals like this because they generally required very little preparation and then you can relax while the whole meal cooks all at once. For the pasta I used some whole wheat orzo to make it a touch healthier. The chicken giouvetsi was pretty easy to make and the hardest part was quartering the whole chicken though you could easily just use chicken legs and or breasts to save some time. The simple sounding recipe really belies the amazing flavour of this dish! While baking, all of the flavours have plenty of time to mingle and become good friends and every bite right down to the last piece of orzo on the plate was tasty and full of flavour. For even more flavour feel free to garnish the meal with some grated kefalotyri or pecorino romano cheese.

Chicken Giouvetsi

(makes 4+ servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion (chopped)
1 cubanelle pepper (chopped)
1 1/2 cups orzo (I used whole wheat)
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup tomato puree
salt and pepper to taste
1 whole chicken (separated into pieces)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and pepper and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the orzo and toast for a few minutes.
4. Add the stock and tomato puree and season with salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil and transfer to a baking dish along with the chicken.
6. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Similar Recipes:
Chicken Cacciatore (Hunter Style Chicken)
Osso Buco
Lemon Roasted Chicken
Fish a la Spetsiota