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
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.
Sauteed Okra
Okra
Ingredients
400-500g fresh okra, cut into pieces
400g/1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic, chopped
2 tsp dark muscovado or brown sugar
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
fresh coriander, chopped
salt, pepper to taste
olive oil
Method
Heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat, add onion and saute until soft.
Add garlic, okra and cook for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, lemon juice, sugar, season with salt and pepper.
Cover and leave to cook for 10 minutes more.
Turn off the heat, sprinkle with coriander.
Serve alongside the roast chicken and chickpeas.
Enjoy the food!
milkandbun 
What a lovely meal! Matt and I just purchased a tagine pot and we’ve both been looking for recipes that we could use in our first Moroccan inspired meal. I’m adding this to my list of bookmarks for recipes I want to try!
Definitely you need to cook the chicken in your new tagine! I’m sure it will be even more tasty! 🙂 Thanks for the warm comment, Heather!
Really a beautiful meal, I love the stuffing.
Thank you! Comforting dish! 🙂
Lovely roasted chicken with some amazing flavors running thru it, I love the use of harissa paste. And the sauteed okra makes a perfect accompaniment.
Thank you! 🙂
I love moroccan food but I don’t eat it enough, I definitely don’t cook it enough! I love the combination of flavours and textures in this dish, looks so yummy!
Frankly, I don’t’ cook it pretty often too! 😀 But all those spices gave amazing aroma to any dish!
Sounds and looks delicious! This could be our Sunday dinner! Travel photos looks great too.
Thanks a lot! 🙂
Love an easy and rustic fall roasted chicken recipe! Will have to find some zaatar and get to this soon! 🙂
Thanks Bonnie! You can make it without zaatar, I do love this spice and add it to many dishes! 😀 Whole roast chicken is amazing and scrumptious meal with any your fav spices! 🙂
What a rustic and delicious chicken, I love okra but never thought of using it as stuffing! Seasoned to perfection 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I didn’t use okra in the stuffing, it was a side dish! 😉 Thanks for stopped by, sweet chocolate girl! 🙂
That looks very good. I do cook every Sunday so perhaps I should give your recipe a go 😉
And what do you usually cook for the Sunday dinner? 🙂 I’m always looking for the inspiration!
Often I do fairly standard roast pork, chicken, beef, lamb and sometimes duck. For the next couple of months it’s shooting season and pheasant is very cheap (cheaper than chicken), so I will be eating a lot of them 🙂
Pingback: Vanillekipferl | milkandbun
Pingback: Arabic Mezze | milkandbun
Pingback: milkandbun