Slow-Cooked Moroccan Chicken with Apricots and Olives

Traditional

Moroccan meat-and-vegetable stews called “tagines” derive their name from the

pot they’re cooked in—a large, earthenware, or clay, bowl with a tall,

cone-shaped lid called a tagine.

Whether you use an actual tagine or not, there are two keys to making a rich,

delicious Moroccan-style stew: slow cooking and lots of spices and other

aromatic ingredients.

Common

spices include paprika, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron, and coriander along

with fragrant ginger, garlic, lemon, cilantro, and parsley. Dried fruits like

raisins and apricots, as well as meaty green olives, also are found in tagines.

For this recipe, I served the stew over basmati rice, but couscous or other

grains are common too.

Spices for Chicken Marinade

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp
• ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground
• cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp
• turmeric
• 4 large,
• whole chicken legs, cut into thighs and drumsticks, skin removed
• 2 tbsp
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly
• ground black pepper
• 3 garlic
• cloves, finely chopped
• 1 small onion,
• chopped
• 1 small
• piece of fresh ginger (about 1 inch X 1/2 inch), peeled and very thinly sliced
• 1 cup
• chicken broth
• 3/4 cup coarsely
• chopped dried apricots (Turkish, if available)
• 3/4 cup medium
• green olives, pitted and quartered lengthwise
• zest from 1
• medium lemon, trimmed into very thin strips
• 1/4 cup
• chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup
• chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2-3 cups
• cooked basmati rice, for serving
• Tagine Ingredients
• Apricots, Olives, and Lemon Zest
• Preparation
• Combine the
• first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Place the chicken pieces in the bowl and
• toss with the spice mixture to coat well. Cover and refrigerate at least 4

hours (or overnight). Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Spice-Rubbed Chicken Heat a

Dutch oven (or large, ovenproof pot with a lid) over medium heat and add the

olive oil. Season the marinated chicken with salt and pepper and place in the pot. Add

the garlic, onion, and ginger and cook, occasionally turning and stirring, until

the chicken is lightly browned on both sides, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken

broth, apricots, olives, and lemon zest to the pot. Reduce the heat to low and

cover tightly with a lid. Braise until the chicken is tender and juicy, about 1

hour, turning a few times during cooking.

Chicken Beginning to Cook Stew Beginning to Braise Remove the

stew from the heat and stir in the cilantro and parsley.

Cooked Moroccan-Style Chicken Stew

To serve, divide the rice among 4 shallow bowls.

Ladle the stew overtop the rice, including 2 chicken pieces per bowl. Serve

hot.