Weekdays can be too hectic for any busy, professional or academic person to plan meals ahead or have many pots on the stove for dinner. Cooking doesn’t have to be a daunting job if you have the right ingredients and equipment. For me, one pot meals are my go-to meals and I invest money and time to making these meals easy and simpler. I rely a lot on using baking trays that can be just popped in the oven and easy to clean, hence these Hostess and Cook baking trays do it for me, you can purchase the one I used HERE.
Spicy Harissa and Smoked Paprika Chicken
Today I had a lot of admin-work to do hence the invention of this easy and simple meal, that is, Spicy Harissa and Smoked Paprika Chicken. According to Wikipedia, “Harissa is a North African (Tunisian) hot chili pepper paste, the main ingredients of which are roasted red peppers, Baklouti pepper, serrano peppers, and other hot chili peppers, spices and herbs such as garlic paste, coriander seed, saffron, rose, or caraway or olive oil to carry the oil-soluble flavours”. I added Spanish Smoked Paprika on my store-bought harissa paste to enhance its flavour, and it worked beautifully. The chicken is juicy and so delicious, the flavours bust in your mouth, like something you’ve never eaten before, Mhhmmm…. my stomach and taste buds are super pleased. And now, here is the recipe.
Equipment
- Oven
- Enamel Baking Pan
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Thigh Pieces (free range)
- 3 Tablespoons Spicy Harissa Paste
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 Cloves of Garlic crushed and minced
- ½ Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt see note 2
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 6-8 Baby Potatoes see note 1
- 12 – 18 Exotic Tomatoes see note 3
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190℃
- Put the chicken pieces inside the baking tray. Season both sides of the chicken pieces with ½ teaspoon of salt.
- Rinse the potatoes and tomatoes then place them in the baking pan with the chicken. Use the rest of the salt and pepper to season everything and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Mix harissa paste with onion powder, smoked paprika and garlic, stir and add to the chicken and veggies, then toss all together to make sure everything is evenly coated. Drizzle the remaining oil (½ tablespoon) on top of everything then roast for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes turn the oven to 200℃ then roast for 10 more minutes.
- Serve with salad, and enjoy.
Notes
- Your baby potatoes should be small, if they are a little bit bigger please cut them in half.
- Seasoning can be a personal thing, the amount of salt indicated is what works for me, so you should add salt and pepper according to your personal preference.
- Some of my tomatoes were a little bigger than the others so I cut them in half (the bigger ones only). Also, you can use cocktail or Rosa tomatoes as a substitute.
