ONE POT CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS WITH BELUGA LENTILS

One Pot Chicken Drumsticks with Beluga Lentils – juicy chicken drumsticks with black Beluga Lentils, fire roasted tomatoes and zucchini, and lots of leeks and garlic.

I don’t even know how to start talking about this dish because I’m not sure I can capture all of the deliciousness that is happening in this pot. But I’ll try and do my best. A couple days ago, during my stroll through my local grocery store I came across these black Beluga lentils and, well you know me, I had to buy them and had to come up with a recipe for them immediately. I just knew I wanted a delicious stew like dish with chicken drumsticks and fire roasted tomatoes. If you don’t cook much with lentils, they come in different colors, red, green, yellow and black. Black Beluga lentils are said to resemble Beluga caviar because they tend to glisten when they are cooked. But black or any other color they taste pretty much the same, so if you cannot find Beluga lentils, any lentils you have, you can use them in this dish.

I cooked the drumsticks first in olive oil, just enough until they got a nice golden color, but keep in mind they will not be cooked through. I also decided to go with leeks here, because they are a bit milder, plus I love leeks and find that I don’t cook enough with them. I also used plenty of garlic, some nice Sauvignon Blanc, it gives the dish a nice rich flavor, fire roasted tomatoes and smoked paprika for that rich smoky flavor, and then added a large zucchini, just because it never hurts to have more veggies. I also added some heat with some great Sriracha but this is totally optional, especially if you cannot handle spicy food.

The lentils do take a while to cook, I cooked them on the stove top for a few minutes just to get the whole process going, but then I finished cooking the whole dish in the oven for about an hour just until the lentils were tender. The end result was incredible, so much flavor, and you can literally taste every layer of all the great ingredients that were used in this dish. These Beluga lentils are rich, savory, smokey and just perfect. While cooking they soaked up all those delicious flavors from all the ingredients. A masterpiece, if you ask me. Oh, and all in one pot!!

5.0 from 2 reviews

one pot chicken drumsticks with beluga lentils

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour 20 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

One Pot Chicken Drumsticks with Beluga Lentils - juicy chicken drumsticks with black Beluga Lentils, fire roasted tomatoes and zucchini, and lots of leeks and garlic.

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Serves: 4

ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 8 chicken drumsticks, skin on
• seasoning salt, to taste
• ½ tsp red chili flakes
• 1 large leek, cleaned and sliced (about 2 cups)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 cup beluga lentils
• 1 cup white wine, I used Sauvignon Blanc
• 1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
• 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce, (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large zucchini, cut in half then sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, for garnish

instructions

1. In a large Dutch Oven or casserole dish that can go from stove top to oven, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat.
2. Season the chicken drumsticks with the seasoning salt and red chili flakes, then add the drumsticks to the Dutch oven and brown on all sides, should take about 5 minutes. The chicken won't be cooked through, but we will finish cooking it in the oven. Transfer the chicken drumsticks from the Dutch oven to a plate and set aside.
3. Turn the heat down to medium and add the leeks and garlic cloves. Stir around a bit and cook for about 3 minutes or until the leeks soften and become translucent.
4. Stir in the smoked paprika, then add the beluga lentils, fire roasted tomatoes and whine wine.
5. Add the chicken broth, Sriracha sauce, stir everything together and taste for seasoning. Adjust with salt and pepper as necessary.
6. Preheat your oven to 375 F degrees.
7. Cook the lentils for about 10 minutes, they will not be cooked through. Add the zucchini to the pot, stir then place the chicken on top of everything.
8. Place the Dutch oven in the oven and cook for about 1 hour or until the lentils are cooked through.
9. Garnish with fresh thyme and serve immediately.