Spanish-style Chicken with Rice

I love a good one pot meal and Arroz con Pollo always looks delicious when they make it on tv. This took me around exactly an hour and wasn't complicated at all. Though it was a little under-spiced for me, of course my husband thought there were enough spices. I added some smoked paprika to the chicken before browning it though the original recipe only called for salt and pepper. If you're using a smaller chicken you can use a 12-inch skillet, but that was too small for my 4-lb chicken.

Spanish-Style Chicken with Saffron Rice (Arroz con Pollo)
1 (3 1/2- to 4-lb) chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons paprika
2 cups long-grain white rice
1 1/4 cups + 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes including juice
3/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
1 bay leaf (not California)
1 cup frozen peas (not thawed)


Garnish: chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


Pat chicken dry and season with paprika, salt, and pepper. Heat oil in a dutch oven over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken on all sides, about 12 minutes total. Transfer chicken with tongs to a plate.

Add onion, bell pepper, and salt to taste. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add garlic, paprika, and rice, then cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add 1 1/4 cups broth and boil, uncovered, 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with juice, rest of chicken broth, saffron, and bay leaf. Nestle chicken in rice, adding any juices from plate.

Cook, covered, over low heat until chicken is cooked through, rice is tender, and most of liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peas, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf.



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