Grilled Chicken, Tomato & Artichoke Orzo

We love a good mid-week super quick, super tasty recipe and this one totally fits the bill. The ingredients are all easily sourced and can be substituted with whatever you like. The dressing is what makes this absolutely amazing but if you don’t have the ingredients or don’t have time it is fine without.

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken breast fillets, sliced in half widthways so you have 4 x thinner fillets rather than 2 x fat ones
• 1 x can tomatoes (we like polpa)
• 1 tablespoon of Bomba! tomato paste (or regular if you don’t have Bomba)
• 125g of Orzo pasta (or use similar small size pasta)
• 3 teaspoons of vegetable bouillon stock
• Large handful of basil chopped up
• 1 x packet or jar of grilled artichokes
• Parmesan ready for grating
• Glug olive oil
• Sea salt and pepper

Dressing

• A handful of flat-leaf parsley
• A handful of flat-leaf basil
• 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Bring a pan of water to boil, and add the Bouillon stock and the orzo pasta. Cook according to packet instructions – around 7-8 minutes.

2. Add a glug of olive oil to a large deep frying pan, and then add the chicken. Fry on both sides over a medium heat until nicely browned. We like to add some sliced garlic cloves to flavour the oil while the chicken is cooking but it’s not essential.

3. Once the orzo is cooked through, drain but retain about 2-3 tbsp of the pasta water in the pan and stir through the tomatoes and grate in some parmesan. If you like it cheesy add a good smattering, as you like it! Add the artichokes and tomato purée and place over a low simmer for 3-4 minutes.

4. Prepare the dressing by blitzing the ingredients in a small mixer and season with salt and pepper.

5. Once the orzo and sauce have reduced down, add the basil and season with salt and pepper.

6. Slice the grilled chicken and plate up with the tomato and artichoke orzo and grate over some fresh parmesan and drizzle over a few teaspoons of the dressing.

Images: HM