A great Algiers classic: thin ribbons of steamed rechta pasta, coated in a cinnamon-scented white sauce with tender chicken, chickpeas, and sweet vegetables. A delicate, generous, and highly comforting family dish.
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh or dried rechta pasta
- 4 pieces free-range chicken legs
- 2 pieces yellow onions
- 4 pieces white turnips
- 2 pieces zucchini
- 250 g drained cooked chickpeas
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tbsp smen or clarified butter
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 piece cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- to taste fine salt
- 1200 ml water
- 0.25 bunches fresh flat-leaf parsley
Method
- Finely slice the onions, peel the turnips, and cut the zucchini into even pieces. Salt the chicken, then let it brown with the oil and smen in a pot until the skin begins to turn pale golden and the bottom smells like roasted poultry.
- Add the onions, ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, and pepper. Sweat over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent, soft, and almost melted without taking on much color.
- Pour in the water, scrape the bottom of the pot well, then simmer covered until the chicken is tender and the broth takes on a fragrant ivory color.
- Add the chickpeas and turnips to the sauce. Continue cooking until the turnips are meltingly soft but still intact under the tip of a knife.
- While the sauce simmers, separate the rechta with your fingers, oil it very lightly, then steam it until it is hot, pliable, and not sticky.
- Return the rechta to a large dish, fluff it with your fingers or a fork, fold in the butter while it is hot, then steam it again until it becomes light and well separated.
- Add the zucchini to the pot toward the end of cooking. They should remain tender and green, without falling apart in the sauce.
- Taste the sauce, adjust the salt and pepper, then remove the cinnamon stick when the flavor is present but not overpowering.
- Mound the rechta in a large shallow serving dish, generously ladle the white sauce over it, arrange the chicken, turnips, zucchini, and chickpeas on top, then finish with a little chopped parsley.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 740 kcal
- Protein
- 25.66 g
- Carbohydrate
- 108.78 g
- Fat
- 23.66 g
- Fibre
- 10.2 g
- Calcium
- 66.11 mg
- Iron
- 1.49 mg
- Magnesium
- 28.11 mg
