Chicken with Harissa, Preserved Lemon and Green Olives
Course: DinnerCuisine: MoroccanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes50
minutesA friend gave me this recipe as she knows I love chicken, preserved lemon, harissa and all flavors Moroccan, Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern. This is a favorite dish. I marinate the chicken in the harissa, red harissa, but feel free to use the green so less spicy. My kids are fans of spice and they tolerate the red Harissa just fine. I put the breasts in a bag with salt and pepper and let it marinate up to overnight. When this dish comes together, the flavors are out of this world. This is one of my go to comfort dishes.
Ingredients
1/4 cup red harissa paste (dilute with 1/4 olive oil) or sauce
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 bone in skin on chicken breast, cut in half
1 preserved lemon, chopped
Green olives, about a handful, roughly chopped
3 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
Directions
- Cut the chicken breasts in half and place in a bag with the harissa sauce, salt and fresh ground pepper. Make sure the chicken is all covered in the marinade and leave for a few hours to overnight.
- When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425. Remove the chicken from refrigerator and allow to sit for an hour.
- While the chicken sits, in a bowl add the chopped preserved lemon, chopped green olives and oregano and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Set this aside.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with a could layers of parchment and place the chicken pieces on it and cook for 30 minutes. If the skin is not crispy, bring the temperature up to 450 and continue to cook for 10 minutes.
- Once the chicken pieces register 165 with an instant read thermometer, remove from oven and cover loosely with foil for 10 minutes.
- Serve chicken on warm plates with a green vegetable and couscous with the preserved lemon olive salad.
