Chicken Tajine with Preserved Lemons

Lately, I have been a little obsessed with Moroccon recipes. Maybe because I got a beautiful Tagine for Christmas? Or maybe because a friend gave me some home made preserved lemons (Thank you Kathy)? Either way, this dish from Jamie Oliver is made with Fennel, Saffron, the above mentioned preserved lemons and olives. It is mainly a very mild stew with a deep and lovely flavour. If you happen to have a Tagine or a Claypot you should use it and you will be impressed how juicy and tasty the chicken will get.

Chicken, Olive and Preserved Lemon Tagine

(Jamie Oliver "Jamie does")

Serves 4-6


1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg), preferably free-range or organic, skin-on, jointed 
into 4 (get your butcher 
to do this for you)

Olive oil

1-2 large bulbs of fennel


2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped


A small bunch of fresh coriander


4 cloves of garlic, peeled 
and sliced


2-3 small preserved lemons, deseeded and chopped


80g black and green olives, stoned

A good pinch of saffron


500ml hot organic chicken stock




For the spice rub
1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds, bashed up
1 level teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Put your chicken pieces into a large bowl, massage them with the spice rub, then cover with clingfilm, and put into the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours or, even better, overnight. When you’re ready to cook, heat a generous lug of olive oil in a tagine or casserole-type 
pan, and fry the chicken pieces over a medium to high heat, 
skin side down first, for about 
5 to 10 minutes until gorgeous and golden brown.

While your chicken fries, chop each fennel bulb into 8 wedges, and add these to the pan along with the onions, coriander stalks 
and garlic. Stir well and fry for a couple more minutes, then mix in the preserved lemons, olives and saffron. Pour in the hot stock, give everything a good stir, then cover with a lid or foil, and simmer on a low heat for 1½ hours, or until the meat starts to fall away from the bone. Halfway through, have a check and give it a good stir. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks dry. When the time’s up and your chicken looks perfect, stir gently. If it’s still a bit liquidy, leave it to blip away with the lid off until thickened slightly.

Have a taste, season with a pinch of salt and pepper if you think it needs it, then sprinkle with the coriander leaves. There’s enough love and care in the tagine for it not to need anything fancy, so serve it simply, with a large bowl of lightly seasoned 
steaming couscous.