| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 6 hr |
| Prep: | 40 min |
| Inactive: | 3 hr |
| Cook: | 2 hr 20 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lemon, zest grated and juiced (about 2 to 3 tablespoons juice) plus 2 lemons, quartered, for garnish
- 1 teaspoon harissa
- 4 skinless chicken thighs, (about 2 pounds)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- Pinch saffron strands
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch half moons or chunks
- 3 yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch half moons or chunks
- 3 medium plum tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 cup dried pitted prunes (about 10)
- 1/4 cup black olives, pitted
- Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Serving Suggestion: flatbread
- Spice Mixture, recipe follows
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium glass bowl, combine the spice mixture, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and harissa. Add the chicken thighs and stir to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Warm the chicken broth and add the saffron strands, then allow to steep at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade. In a Dutch oven over high heat, brown the chicken thighs on both sides in 2 tablespoons olive oil, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Set chicken aside on a plate. Reduce the heat to medium, add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan, and saute the onion until golden, about 5 minutes. Place the chicken thighs on top of the onions and add any accumulated juices from the plate. Arrange the zucchini and yellow squash and tomato quarters on top of the chicken and tuck in the prunes and olives. Season well with salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken broth and saffron. Cover and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Let cook undisturbed 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is falling off the bone. Remove from the oven and transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to a large serving dish.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small saucepan over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the almonds and fry until the skins begin to crackle, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the almonds and hot oil over the vegetables and chicken on the serving dish. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve, spooning over the sauce in the dish and garnishing each plate with the lemon quarters.
- Combine the spices in a coffee grinder and grind to a medium-fine powder. Add the kosher salt and pepper. Store in an air-tight container, if not using immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 756 |
| Total Fat | 38 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 76 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 14 g |
| Sugar | 17 g |
| Protein | 38 g |
| Cholesterol | 129 mg |
| Sodium | 2202 mg |
Reviews
Not for the faint of heart, many ingredients and steps. BUT, well worth it. So delicious. I made it for a small dinner party and it was a huge hit!
Time consuming, but a great way to use up some yellow squash from the garden. I used chicken breast to try this recipe initially because I often find thighs too greasy for my taste. Next time I may do half breast half thighs though. Also would change the olives to green olives, nice big ones. Also added garlic the the marinade. Other than that, I cooked it in my crockpot to avoid overheating the house in the summer, and added the squash half way through the cooking time after reading these reviews saying it was too mushy. It turned out delicious. We served over rice. A lovely gluten free meal.
Loved it only downside is only my littlest and me ate it and loved it, so I guess I won’t be making it very often, but seriously really good. I served it over some couscous and it was so good!
This was amazing! I used apricots instead of plums… it was great! everyone loved it!
Have made this recipe over and over again, and it’s AWESOME EVERY TIME. I make this when I know I’m having company over, since I know I can make it in advance of people arriving. In a large Dutch oven I usually add 20 pieces of chicken instead of as the recipe asks and marinate it over night; this way I have served up to 13 people, and still have left overs. I also add extra to the dish 1 or 2 peeled potatoes, 1 or 2 peeled sweet potatoes, a chopped jalapeno pepper, toasted almonds or pine nuts to the recipe just to add another texture to the final dish, and double the spice mixture for the marinade. This is such a winner!
Blue Ribbon — Delicious
I have made this dish several times. My kids still don’t know that dried plums are prunes. I”ve also shared this dish with gardeners who have an overstock of zucchini. It always smells great.
When I browned the chicken in the oil the marinade came off and was burnt onto the bottom of the pot. My instinct was to clean off the blackened bits before I cooked the onions, but I decided to follow the recipe to the letter. The end result was that the flavors were a bit off. I should have added more spices afterwards– that would have brightened things up a bit and obscured the hint of a burnt aftertaste. The dish came out very watery and bland, but the chicken was very tender. The prunes were kind of a weird addition– no one in my family ate them.
I made this for my brother and Mom and we found the recipe to be comforting and yummy! The flavors were not overbearing and the recipe is simple. Although I was not able to find “Harissa” I used something from an indian market that seemed to be consistent with Harissa. I used a dutch oven and followed the recipe to a T and highly recommend this dish. The entire family loved it. We are going the Moroccan Beef Brisket next.
I made this for my veggie friend who has visited Morroco before. She said it smelled and tasted very authentic!
I took out the chicken since she’s vegetarian and simplified the recipe steps. I thought the recipe was a little confusing and don’t own a Dutch oven or tangrine, but this was still an easy recipe.
My modifications were – I took jsut 2 squash, 2 zucc’s, 3 plum tomatos, and added 2 skinned russet potatoes. All the other veggies were pretty much the same (and next time I might add cauliflower and eggplant!).
I sauted garlic (i put 3 cloves in because I like the garlic), dried parsely, salt n pepper, paprika, tumeric, and cinnamon (all doubled because I add more broth later) in the olive oil in a large pot on the stove, medium to low heat. When that’s all hot and diffused, I add 2 cups of broth (I used veggie stock) and then the saffron and let that all come to a boil. I thought the 1/2 cup wasn’t enough, so mine was almost like a stew at first, but it came to a nice saucy meal, I think much better.
Then I added all the veggies. Once they’re all reduced, turn heat to low and let it go until you’re ready to eat. I served over rice. It was so good!!!