I may not have the most chilli-tolerant constitution as the next person, but nothing stopped me from making up another batch of harissa soon after the first one was used up.

Can I say I’m kinda in love with it?

I’m particularly in love with harissa butter – a condiment that’s easy to knock together, freezes well and can be thrown into many things.

I already had some chicken thigh fillets sitting in the fridge and wondered how I could introduce them to the golden, spicy butter. Simply pan-fried in it would have been good enough, but I wanted more.

I was craving bacon. Chicken and bacon? We’re on the right track.

Chicken, bacon and harissa? Now we’re talking.

I could have put my wacky chefs hat on and spiked the bacon with a bit of booze, but I settled on rolling the chicken in the rashers; cooking it mignon-style. Although a bit of bourbon flavour would have worked well with the smokiness of the bacon.

Next time.

A bit of herbage, a good dollop of harissa butter, some asparagus, cavalo nero and cherry tomatoes I picked up from the farmers market, and dinner was done and dusted.

*Maitre D’ Mini Casserole supplied by Scanpan

Print Recipe

Chicken mignon with harissa butter

Chicken, bacon and some fiery harissa butter - this is one tasty way to have your chook

Course

Main Dish

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thigh fillets
• fresh thyme leaves
• Salt & black pepper
• 4 rashers bacon
• 4 tbsp harissa paste recipe link in notes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion sliced 5 mm thick
• Vegetables of choice to serve

Course Main Dish Servings servings Ingredients 4 chicken thigh fillets fresh thyme leaves Salt & black pepper 4 rashers bacon 4 tbsp harissa paste recipe link in notes 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion sliced 5 mm thick Vegetables of choice to serve

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Lay the chicken thighs on a cutting board, scatter with the thyme and season well with salt and pepper.
3. Roll the chicken tightly and then wrap the bacon rashers around each roll of chicken. Secure with a toothpick.
4. Coat the bottom and inside of an ovenproof dish with the olive oil. Lay the sliced onion in a single layer in the bottom of the dish, then sit the rolled chicken on top of the onions.
5. Drop 1 tablespoon of the harissa butter on top of each roll of chicken, top with a sprig of thyme and then bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes - basting a couple of times during cooking.
6. Prepare your vegetables as the chicken cooks - serve as soon as it comes out of the oven, removing the toothpicks beforehand.

Recipe Notes

Get my recipe for harissa butter here.

 

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