This chicken and apricot tagine with saffron broccoli couscous is one of the dishes I make most often for my private chef meal prep clients, and it’s always a favourite. It’s a make-ahead, freezer-friendly recipe that actually gets better after it’s cooked, because the spices have time to develop. Chicken thighs are slow-cooked in the oven with red onion, carrot, celery and butternut squash, warming spices like cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, coriander seed and cardamom, a good chicken broth, honey and dried apricots. The chunky veg holds up really well in the freezer, so you can batch cook it, freeze it and simply reheat it when you need it. The giant couscous is cooked with saffron and Tenderstem broccoli while the tagine reheats. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and some toasted almonds for crunch. It serves 6 with extra tagine left over, and it’s a light but warming Moroccan-inspired dinner that’s perfect for meal prep, midweek dinners or feeding friends
recipe
Servings:
6 as a main with extra tagine
Cook time:
2.5 hours
Ingredients
Tagine:
3 red onions
2 large carrots
2 sticks celery
1/2 butternut squash
8 chicken thighs
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tbsp coriander seed
8 cardamom pods
1kg chicken broth (Borough Broth Company)
1 tbsp honey
125g dried apricots
1 lemon
Couscous:
2 shallots
300g giant couscous
600g water
Pinch of saffron threads
200g Tenderstem broccoli
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 140°C. Cut the onions into sixths, roll-cut the carrots, slice the celery on the diagonal and cut the squash into large squares.
2. Sear the chicken in the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish (Le Creuset) until golden, then set aside.
3. Brown the veg in the same pan. Add the spices with a splash more oil and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
4. Pour in the stock, place the chicken on top and cook in the oven for an hour and a half.
5. Stir through the honey and apricots, cool, then freeze until needed.
6. Defrost overnight and reheat until piping hot.
7. Stir-fry the shallots for a couple of minutes, add the couscous and stir-fry, then add the water, saffron, salt and pepper.
8. Once half the liquid has been absorbed, add the Tenderstem, put the lid on and cook until the rest of the liquid is absorbed. Stir through the butter.
9. Finish the tagine with a squeeze of lemon snd some toasted almonds if you have them and serve with the couscous.