22 | October | 2014 | milkandbun

When was the last time you had a proper Sunday dinner {or Friday dinner in Arabic countries}? Do you plan it ahead or make it spontaneously? I suggest you to plan the dinner this time. Find the recipe you haven’t tried yet (or try mine) and which doesn’t require much time to be cooked, do the shopping a day ahead. And probably in the weekend you can allow yourself the luxury of feasting on the company of those you love the most.

I love to spend a weekend afternoon in the kitchen preparing dinner surrounded by the wonderful aromas! Last weekend I was browsing through the photographs from the trip to Morocco, and inspired by all those bright, ancient and beautiful scenes, I decided to prepare the dinner in Arabic style. 🙂

This roasted chicken recipe is a terrific option for dinner if you are looking for scrumptious, healthy and something easy to cook! The richness of garlic, the fire of harissa paste and the aroma of lemon make the dish comforting and that the whole family will love!

So get cooking! 😉

Roast Arabic-spiced Chicken

Servings: 4-6
Print

Roast Arabic-spiced Chicken

Ingredients

1*1.3-1.5 kg chicken,corn fed, free range

Salt, pepper to taste

2Tbsp butter, at room temperature

1 tsp thyme leaves, fresh or dried

Rub:

1/2 lemon, juice and zest

3-4 tsp harissa paste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp ginger powder

5 allspice berries, ground

1 Tbsp olive oil

+2 Tbsp zaatar

Stuffing:

200g chickpeas, cooked or from tin

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small chilli, finely chopped

1/2 lemon

olive oil

Method

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Coat it inside and out with salt and pepper.

Gently separate the skin from the flesh with your fingers and insert butter and thyme under the skin.

Mix ingredients for the rub to make a marinade. Rub all over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 1-3 hours.

Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cook. Sprinkle with zaatar.

For the filling, in a bowl mix chickpeas, garlic, chilli and a dash of olive oil. Stuff the chicken and place the half of the lemon at the entrance.

Truss the chicken and place in the roasting pan (breast-side up).

Roast in preheated 210C oven for 40 minutes, then down the heat to 180C and roast 30-40 minutes more, or until the juices run clear.

Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Extract the lemon from the cavity of the chicken and spoon the filling in a serving bowl. Squeeze the juice from the lemon, season with salt and pepper, mash chickpeas with a spoon a little bit. Drizzle with olive oil.