Easy Chicken Marbella – roast chicken in dates, olives, white wine & capers. So amazingly delicious and easy, you will want to make this every week!
Easy Chicken Marbella
I discovered this recipe in Ottolenghi’s book SIMPLE. The original recipe came to fame in the 1980’s in The Silver Palate cookbook. It’s basically roast chicken with dates, capers and green olives, the perfect mix of sweet, sour and salty! Ottolenghi uses date molasses or treacle in his version, I have chosen to use 1 tablespoon of honey. I think the original recipe used 1 cup of sugar. This recipe is best after a full day of marinating, or even two days, to soften and really flavour the chicken. But if you don’t have time, it’s still going to be delicious after 30 minutes. You can use any cut of chicken, just make sure the bone is still in, so thighs, marylands, or have I have done, a whole chook butterflied. Just ask your butcher to butterfly it for you.
There are just a few really simple steps for this one;
Step 1
Marinate the chicken in all the ingredients except for the wine and honey.
Step 2
Place chicken in baking dish and drizzle over the wine and honey.
Step 3
Bake at 180°C for 50 minutes, basting regularly. If the wings get dark quicker than the rest, just cover that area in a little aluminium foil to prevent burning.
Perfect served with some simple steamed rice.
Easy Chicken Marbella
Description
Easy Chicken Marbella – roast chicken in dates, olives, white wine & capers.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, butterflied
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, stalk removed
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup pitted Medjool dates, cut in half
- ½ cup green olives
- 3 tablespoons capers, plus 2 tablespoon of the brine
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 tablespoon honey
- salt & pepper
Instructions
Place the chicken in a non-reactive bowl and add the garlic, bay leaves, oregano, vinegar, olive oil, dates, capers and brine and marinate for as long as you can, overnight is ideal.
Pre heat oven to 180°C fan forced.
Place chicken into a large baking dish, along with the marinade. Whisk together the wine and honey and pour over chicken. Place in oven and roast for 50 minutes, basting three times. The meat should be golden-brown and cooked through.
Notes
Non reactive bowls are made from glass, ceramic and enamel coating. Stainless steel is too, but it can be hard to tell if your bowl is stainless steel or aluminium perhaps. I always use glass to be safe.
If the wings get dark quicker than the rest, just cover that area in a little aluminium foil to prevent burning.
Chicken from Macro Organics
Simple cookbook by Ottolenghi
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