One-Pot Chicken Orzo

Heat the stock in the microwave, or make it up with just-boiled water from the kettle, so it goes into the pan hot. Finely chop the onion and garlic, grate the zest from the lemon and squeeze its juice, finely grate the Parmesan and chop the dill.

Pat the chicken thighs dry with kitchen paper and season them all over with the oregano, salt and black pepper.

Heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat in a deep frying pan or sauté pan with a lid, about 30 cm across. Lay in the chicken smooth side down in a single layer, in two batches if it will not fit, and fry without moving it for 5 minutes, until deep golden. Turn and brown the other side for 3 minutes, then lift it onto a plate; it finishes cooking later.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion to the fat left in the pan and cook for 5 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the orzo and stir it around in the fat for 2 minutes, until it smells toasty and some grains turn golden.

Pour in 900 ml of the hot stock, add the lemon zest and season lightly with salt, as stock is often salty already. Bring to the boil, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan so no orzo sticks.

Nestle the chicken back into the orzo with any juices from the plate. Cover, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the bottom so the orzo does not catch.

Uncover and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes more, stirring often, until the orzo is tender and the liquid has thickened into a loose, creamy sauce; add the remaining stock if it thickens before the orzo is cooked. The chicken is done when the thickest thigh shows no pink when cut, or reads 75°C on a probe thermometer.

Take the pan off the heat. Stir the spinach into the orzo around the chicken, a handful at a time, until it wilts, then stir in the lemon juice, most of the Parmesan and most of the dill.

Taste and season with salt and black pepper. Scatter over the rest of the Parmesan and dill and serve straight from the pan.