Chicken & Green Bean Fideuà

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g dried wheat vermicelli
• 500 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 300 g green beans (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tomatoes (about 120 g each)
• 1 brown onion
• 3 garlic cloves (1 for the aioli, 2 for the fideuà)
• 2 tbsp olive oil (1 for the vermicelli, 1 for the chicken) + 1 tsp for the aioli
• 1 chicken stock cube + 800 ml hot water
• 1 tsp sweet paprika + ½ tsp turmeric
• 120 g 2% Greek yoghurt
• 1 lemon (½ for the aioli, ½ in wedges)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large sauté pan (at least 28 cm)
• Coarse grater
• Bowl
• Wooden spatula
• Knife and cutting board
• Clean tea towel

📖 Steps

1. Make the aioli: crush 1 garlic clove into a bowl, then add the Greek yoghurt, the juice of ½ lemon, 1 tsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well and chill: this gives the garlic time to flavour the sauce while everything cooks.
2. Cut the chicken thighs into 3 cm pieces and season with salt and pepper. Slice the onion and chop the remaining 2 garlic cloves. Halve the tomatoes and grate them, cut side down, on the coarse side of a grater, discarding the skin. Cut the green beans into 3 cm lengths.
3. Dissolve the stock cube and turmeric in 800 ml hot water and keep warm. In the sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat and toast the vermicelli for 4 to 5 min, stirring constantly, until golden. Set aside.
4. In the same pan, heat the second tablespoon of oil over a high heat and brown the chicken for 5 min, turning, until well coloured. Add the onion and cook for 3 min over a medium heat until translucent.
5. Add the chopped garlic and paprika, stir for 30 s without letting them burn, then pour in the grated tomato. Leave to cook down for 3 min, scraping the bottom with the wooden spatula, until the sauce thickens. Add the green beans and stir.
6. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, then add the toasted vermicelli, spreading them out evenly. Cook for 6 to 8 min over a medium heat, without covering or stirring, as you would a rice dish, until the liquid is almost completely absorbed and the vermicelli are just tender.
7. Taste and adjust the salt. Turn the heat up high for the last 2 minutes, still without stirring, so the bottom catches slightly and forms a thin golden crust: a gentle crackling is normal, but a burning smell means it's time to turn off the heat.
8. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest off the heat for 5 min: the vermicelli will finish swelling. Serve straight from the pan with the yoghurt aioli and the other half of the lemon cut into wedges.