Portuguese Chicken Piri-Piri - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 -6 chicken breast halves, skinless if desired
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, cut into thin strips
2 parsnips, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into thin strips
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into thin strips
4 cups chicken or 4 cups vegetable stock
3 -4 tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
piri-piri, sauce (or other hot sauce)
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
1 tablespoon lime (or lemon juice)

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Add the onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and saute until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, thyme, and piri-piri sauce and bring to a boil. Ladle about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid into a small pot and set aside. Place the rice in the bottom of a large baking dish. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to the baking dish and add the liquid from the skillet.
Bake tightly covered in a preheated 350F oven until the rice is cooked, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the reserved liquid and add the lime juice and additional piri-piri sauce to taste. Serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the rice, and serve the additional sauce separately.