I love the warming spices of a tagine, and this one with chicken, butternut squash and chickpeas is one of my favourites.
In this version, I've marinated the chicken in a combination of rose and smoked chilli harissa pastes, but do adjust to suit your taste and desire for heat!
Jarred chickpeas and their cooking stock really enhance the texture and flavour of the tagine, but a 400g tin of drained chickpeas will also work well.
The tagine is perfect served just with some plain cous cous and tzatziki or in a bowl with flatbread or toasted pita to soak up all of those lovely juices.
600g chicken thighs
1/2 (approx 400g) butternut squash
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of rose harissa paste
1 teaspoon (or to taste) of smoked chilli harissa paste
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of ground cinammon
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
1/2 fine sea salt
250ml chicken stock
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 570g jar of chickpeas/queen chickpeas
100g soft dried apricots
To garnish:
Flat leaf parsley
Toasted flaked almonds
- Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized chunks and mix with the harissa pastes and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Cover the chicken and place in the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.
- Peel the butternut squash and cut it into 1-2cm dice (if it's too large, the squash won't cook quickly enough).
- Peel the onion and garlic.
- Cut the onion into quarters and slice.
- Dice the apricots.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a tagine, casserole or lidded sauté pan, over a low to medium heat.
- Once the oil is up to temperature, add the sliced onion and sauté until translucent.
- Add the chicken, increase the heat slightly and stir until the chicken pieces are sealed.
- Now add the butternut squash and stir until it's evenly distributed with the chicken pieces.
- Crush or finely grate the garlic and add it to the pan along with the spices and salt. Mix well and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the ingredients burn.
- Pour in the stock, the tomatoes and the chickpeas along with their cooking liquid.
- Stir in the apricots.
- Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat. Cover the casserole and simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked, the butternut squash is soft and the sauce has reduced.
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes so that the temperature of the dish doesn't overpower the flavours.
- Taste, adjust seasoning and serve.
