Morocco · Poultry
Whole Chicken with Preserved Lemons
A whole chicken cooked slowly with preserved lemon, saffron and green olives, then finished in the oven with butter. The olives and the lemon skin go in near the end — that is where the saltiness comes from.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 1 h 10 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Medium
Method
- Fry the onions for a few minutes over medium heat, then add the garlic, the spices and the pulp of the preserved lemon. Fry it all together for 2–3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wash the chicken well and tie it up so it does not fall apart while it cooks.
- Add the chicken to the pot and brown it for a minute on every side.
- Add a cup of water — enough to half cover the chicken — and a pinch of saffron threads.
- Cook for 15 minutes on each side. If the chicken needs longer, keep the breasts down in the sauce so they cook through.
- For the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the olives and the lemon skin. This is what gives the chicken its saltiness.
- Transfer the chicken to a baking dish, dot it with butter and bake at 200 °C for 20 minutes.
Watch it made
The full method, step by step, on the channel.