Rfissa with Pasta — Chicken, Lentils and Fenugreek, the Weeknight Way
The flavours of rfissa — chicken, lentils, fenugreek, smen — in a pressure cooker, with pasta cooked straight in the broth and the chicken finished in the oven. A family dinner, not a feast.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 1 hr 10 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Rfissa is a celebration dish. Made properly, it is shredded msemen or trid soaked in a broth of chicken, lentils and fenugreek, and it is what a family cooks when a baby is born or someone comes home. Making the bread alone takes an afternoon.
This is the version that gets made on an ordinary evening. Everything that gives rfissa its taste stays — the lentils, the fenugreek, the onion cooked down in olive oil, a spoon of smen — but the bread is swapped for pasta that cooks straight in the broth and drinks it. A pressure cooker does the slow part in twenty minutes.
The chicken comes out of the pot once it is tender and goes into a hot oven brushed with harissa or butter, so it arrives at the table with a browned skin instead of the pale, soft finish of chicken that has spent its whole life in broth. That last step is small and it is what makes the dish.
If you want the ceremonial rfissa, start from our msemen recipe and set aside a day. If you want dinner tonight, this is it.
Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
The broth
Lentils and pasta
To finish the chicken
Instructions
Sweat the chicken and spices
Put the chicken pieces into the pressure cooker with the olive oil, the sliced onion, tomato, garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric, ginger, food colouring if using, smen, and the half cup of water. Turn everything over, set it on a medium heat, and let it cook uncovered, stirring now and then, until the onion has softened and the liquid has mostly gone and the chicken is coated in a thick, fragrant base. Take your time here — this is where the flavour of the whole dish is built.
Add the lentils, fenugreek and water
Pour in the litre of boiling water, then add the rinsed lentils, the fenugreek seeds and the tied bunch of coriander. Stir it once so nothing is sitting on the base.
Pressure-cook 20 to 25 minutes
Close the pressure cooker and bring it up to pressure. As soon as it starts to whistle, turn the heat down low and leave it for 20 to 25 minutes. Let the pressure drop before opening. The lentils should be completely soft and the chicken tender.
Take the chicken out
Lift the chicken pieces out onto a baking tray and set them aside. Leave the lentils, broth and coriander in the pot.
Cook the pasta in the broth
Bring the broth back to a boil, add the pasta, and top up with enough boiling water to cook it — the pasta should be just covered. Simmer uncovered, stirring from the bottom every 5 minutes, until the pasta is tender and has drunk most of the liquid. The lentils will catch if you leave it, so keep stirring.
Brown the chicken
While the pasta cooks, heat the oven to 220°C. Brush the chicken all over with harissa or softened butter and roast it for 15 to 20 minutes, until the skin is browned and starting to crisp at the edges.
Build the plate
Spread the pasta and lentils across a wide serving plate. Set the browned chicken in the middle and lay the cooked coriander bunch beside it. Spoon any broth left in the pot over the pasta so it stays loose, and serve straight away.
Cook’s notes
- No pressure cooker? Use a heavy covered pot and simmer the chicken, lentils and fenugreek for about an hour, until the lentils are soft. Nothing else changes.
- Fenugreek is what makes this taste of rfissa, but it is strong and slightly bitter. One teaspoon of seeds is enough for the whole pot; more and it takes over.
- Stir the pasta from the bottom every five minutes. Lentils settle and catch, and a scorched layer on the base flavours everything above it.
- The oven step is optional, but it is the difference between chicken that tastes boiled and chicken that tastes cooked. Harissa gives heat and colour; butter gives a softer, glossier skin.
- Leave the coriander tied in a bunch. It flavours the broth through the whole cook and comes out in one piece instead of scattering through the pot.
- This is the weeknight version. Traditional rfissa uses shredded msemen or trid in place of pasta, and takes most of a day — our msemen recipe is the place to start if you want to make it the long way.
What you need
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- Pressure cooker (paid link)
Turns an hour of simmering lentils and chicken into twenty minutes. A heavy pot with a lid does the same job more slowly, so this is a convenience, not a requirement. Stainless steel lasts longer than aluminium.
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Recipe information
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 55 min
- Total time
- 1 hr 10 min
- Servings
- 4
- Calories
- 720 kcal per serving
- Cuisine
- Moroccan
- Course
- Main Dish
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Keywords
- rfissa, moroccan rfissa recipe, rfissa with pasta, moroccan chicken and lentils, fenugreek chicken
Nutrition is an estimate per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Values vary with brands, cuts and portion size.
Frequently asked questions
What is rfissa?
Why is there fenugreek in rfissa?
Can I make this without a pressure cooker?
Do I need to soak the lentils?
Can I use a different pasta?
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