MOROCCAN CHICKEN TAGINE, WITH OLIVES AND PRUNES

GF DF | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes

You do not need to brown the chicken for this, just trim all the excess skin and fat from the bird. Chicken cooks and tenderises very quickly in the tagine, so keep an eye on it as it is very easy to overcook which resuots in an unpleasant texture. If you need to make this a bit more family friendly you can take out the olives and prunes and add cubed potato and carrot, cut them in about 2cm dice so they cook at the same rate as the chicken.

Ingredients

- 2 onions, peeled and finely sliced

- 1.4kg free-range chicken, cut into 8 portions

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 cup pitted prunes

- 1 cup green olives

- 1⁄4 cup verjuice

- 1 1⁄2 cups chicken stock

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper

- 1/2 cup blanched almonds, toasted

- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. Place onions in the base of a large tagine. Arrange chicken portions on top; drizzle with olive oil and dust with spices. Scatter prunes and olives around the chicken. Pour verjuice and stock over chicken until 3/4 covered and season with salt and pepper.

2. Cover tagine with lid and place over heat. Bring liquid to a very gentle simmer for approx 45 mins until and chicken is cooked. You only need a very small flame or element to get this simmering.

3. Skim any excess fat from surface of sauce. Check and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Scatter with almonds and parsley and serve.

4. Serve with French or Israeli Couscous.