Chicken Tagine - A reminder of the sunshine of Morroco!

To keep the summer vibes going and memories of our family holiday to Morocco alive - we have made this wonderful tagine in some of the School Cooking Enrichment classes we have held this Autumn term.

Its a dish full of Moroccan flavours; - the sweetness of apricots & honey with the tang of preserved lemons, the smoky paprika and cumin finished with the light zestiness of parsley and coriander.

We don't take nuts into schools but this dish is wonderful with toasted flaked almonds dotted on the top

Serve with a Raita salad - Greek, full fat yoghurt and grated cucumber, with salt and pepper and a sprinkling of paprika

Use chicken on the bone as it adds much more flavour to the tagine during the hour plus of simmering it. You can easily remove the bones before serving once its cooked!

Recipe for 4-5 people

2 chicken thighs

2 chicken breasts

1 tbsp olive oil

2 red onions (sliced)

4 garlic cloves (crushed)

2 peppers

100g dried apricots quartered

2 preserved lemons (deseeded and cut up into small pieces)

500ml chicken stock

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can chickpeas

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 ½ tbsp paprika

2 tablespoons of honey

Chopped parsley & mint & coriander to garnish

For a veggie option replace the chicken with the same weight of lentils and use vegetable stock instead of chicken

1.       Cut into strips the chicken breast and cut some of the chicken from the bone - heat half the oil in a pan and brown each side of ALL the chicken (including the bits on the bones) and set aside.

2.      Slice the onions and crush the garlic and use the rest of the oil and heat to a medium heat and add the onions and garlic and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft.

3.      Slice the peppers, chop the apricots and lemons

4.      Increase the heat and add the peppers, apricots and lemons.

5.      Add the spices.

6.      After a few minutes once you can smell the spices add the chicken, chicken stock, honey, tomatoes & chickpeas.

7.       Season and bring to the boil.

8.      Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours.

9.      Garnish with chopped parsley and mint.

10.  Serve with couscous/rice and a salad