Warming, comforting and exotic, this dish is packed with Protein, Healthy Fats, Vitamins and Fibre. Best made in advance, it’s perfect for those days when you might all be watching an important match or when you have guests round. I made this to eat straight after the England v. Wales Six Nations Rugby recently. I put the tagine on to heat up and made some couscous to accompany it at half time and it was all ready at the end of the match. Perfect!
This tagine is also a favourite training dish, especially eaten with couscous, which I find light on the stomach so you can get quite a lot of carbs down you without feeling too full up. It’s a nice balance of nutrients too. And so tasty!
This recipe is pretty straightforward and fairly hard to fail with. If you can marinade the chicken for a full 24 hours then it will be stunning. If the sauce needs thickening up at the end, just dissolve some flour in a splash of water and stir in. I taught my very good running friend Mark how to cook this after his wife sadly passed away. He had four kids at home and really was pretty clueless about cooking. Ten years later and he can rustle up a delicious roast and even host Christmas dinner. But this Chicken Tagine with Green Olives and Preserved Lemons will always be his ‘fail-safe’ signature dish!
Preserved lemons, if you haven’t used them before, are basically lemons preserved in brine. They are used a lot in Mediterranean and North African cooking and are available in most supermarkets, although you might have to ask where to find them!
Some brands taste better than others though. I’m a fan of the Belazu brand, or failing that, the Odysea brand. Whatever you do, don’t use the pre-sliced preserved lemons sold in jars for drinks – these have a different flavour!
Moroccan Chicken Tagine With Green Olives And Preserved Lemons
Warming, comforting and exotic, this dish is packed with Protein, Healthy Fats, Vitamins and Fibre. Best made in advance, it's perfect for those days when you've been out all day or have guests round.
Ingredients
For the marinade
For the Tagine
Instructions
-
Mix together the marinade ingredients and combine the chicken. Leave in the fridge overnight or for as long as you can. Bring the chicken back to room temperature.
-
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a tagine or heavy-bottomed casserole dish, add the onions and cook gently for about 10 minutes. Remove the onions and set them aside.
-
Remove the chicken from the marinade and lightly coat with flour (just put some flour into a plastic bag with the chicken and shake it about a little). Increase the heat under the casserole, add some more oil and then brown the chicken quickly. Keep the marinade aside.
-
Pop the onions back into the pot and add the reserved marinade, the cinnamon stick, the chopped herbs (keep some aside to sprinkle over to serve) and enough chicken stock to cover the chicken. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked.
-
Slice the preserved lemons thinly and discard the pips and flesh.
-
Add the lemons, the preserved lemon juice, the olives and the smoked paprika to the simmering chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes.
-
Test for seasoning – it may need more salt and pepper, perhaps an extra kick with a sprinkle of cayenne, cumin or coriander, or some lemon juice.
-
Sprinkle with the fresh herbs you set aside.
-
I like this served with couscous, topped with toasted flaked almonds!
