If the crispy chicken skin revolution hasn’t quite hit your dinner table yet, then you’re in for a treat. This trendy way to use up leftover chicken skin is worth every bit of the hype! It’s crispy & crunchy, but salty and slightly resembles bacon bits. I love it sprinkled over things that are creamy or perhaps even a bit sweet for that salty bit of contrast. It’s the perfect compliment to this chicken & sweetcorn orzo dish, giving it texture and a punch of flavour. It’s pretty easy to make and the perfect way to use up your leftover roast chicken!
It is of course possible to make this dish without a leftover chicken. You just need to hit up your local grocery store to find the prepared roast chicken fillets with the skin on that are usually sold near the cold cuts. Peel the skin off to use for the crispy chicken skin and chop the meat for the pasta. Alternatively a rotisserie chicken or a prepared roast chicken you can buy in the grocery store will also suffice. I tend to just make this dish with whatever is leftover after a roast chicken dinner or I’ll make Olive Oil Roast Chicken earlier in the day before I want to whip up this delicious pasta dish.
The recipe calls for 700ml of chicken stock which can totally be store-bought or made from a stock cube or stockpot you get in the grocery store, but if you want to really go the extra mile, use homemade chicken stock. If you have some time, you could make the stock just before, using the bones from the leftover roast chicken you’re using. Click here for my Basic Chicken Stock recipe. If you’ve made stock another time and have some hanging out in your freezer like I often do, that works too… Just thaw it out before you get started. Homemade stock is not at all required, but it can add that point of difference to the flavour of the dish if you can manage it and making your own stock is a great way to clear out the veg drawer of your fridge while using up every last bit of a chicken, keeping waste at a minimum.
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter
Ingredients
- 25g unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon garlic oil (or regular olive oil)
- 300g cooked chicken, roughly chopped
- 250g orzo pasta
- 1 tin sweetcorn, drained (about 140g drained weight)
- 700ml chicken stock
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper
- Leftover chicken skin (as much as you have)
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- Generous knob of unsalted butter
- Heat the oil and butter in a large pot or casserole that has a lid. When it starts to sizzle a bit, add the chicken and heat it through, cooking and stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the orzo to the chicken and stir to coat it in the oil & butter. Season with a little salt and a good grinding of black pepper.
- Stir in the chicken stock & sweetcorn and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, cover with the lid and reduce the heat to low. Leave this to cook over the gentle heat for about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring once or twice during the cooking time to help keep it from sticking too much. When it’s done, most of the moisture will be absorbed into the pasta which will be fully cooked. If it gets too dry at any point, but isn’t cooked to the texture you desire, you can add a bit more water or chicken stock.
- While the pasta is cooking, fry the chicken skin in a dry pan over medium-high heat until it resembles crispy bacon, flipping it at least once or twice while it cooks. The skin will render its own fat to cook in. When it’s done and crispy, remove the skin pieces to a plate lined with paper towels to cool a bit.
- When the pasta is fully cooked and the mixture has mostly been absorbed, turn off the heat. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and the knob of butter. Taste the pasta and adjust the seasoning as needed, but remember that the chicken skin is salty so you don’t overseason.
- Ladle the chicken & sweetcorn orzo into pasta bowls and sprinkle with crumbled, crispy chicken skin. Garnish with a bigger sliver or two of crispy skin if you wish, tucked into the middle of the dish and serve hot.
