Dukkah roast chicken

Directions

ON THE DAY:

1. I like to time this so the chicken is coming out of the oven to rest just as my guests arrive. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Get a roasting pan that will fit the chicken fairly snugly. Halve, seed and finely chop the preserved lemons and place in the pan. Roughly chop and add the chili, strip in the rosemary, then halve the pomegranate and squeeze all the juice through your fingers into the pan. Add one tablespoon of olive oil, then the chicken, season lightly and rub all that flavor over the bird, getting into all the nooks and crannies. Pour 2/3 cup of water into the pan around the chicken and roast for one hour 20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through, basting halfway with the pan juices. Remove, cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes in the pan.

TO SERVE:

1. Move the chicken to a serving platter, drizzle and brush with the honey, scatter over the dukkah, then spoon the Smashed eggplant (see my recipe) around it.
2. For the dressing, skim off and discard a spoonful of fat from the pan, then place the pan over a medium heat on the stove, add one tablespoon of red wine vinegar and simmer until thickened, scraping up all the sticky bits and loosening with splashes of water, if needed.
3. Pour through a sieve into a little pitcher. Serve with the chicken, Roasted squash (see my recipe) and a bowl of arugula.

VEGGIE LOVE:

1. Use one cauliflower (1-3/4 pounds) instead of chicken for veggie guests – use just two preserved lemons in the marinade, then roast and finish it in exactly the same way as the chicken.

PRESERVE THOSE LEMONS:

1. Preserved lemons don’t last that long once the jar’s open, so what I do is pour all their liquor into a blender, seed and add the lemons, then blitz until smooth. Freeze in ice-cube trays ready to jazz up stews, salads, couscous, rice, roasts and dressings.

MAKE YOUR OWN DUKKAH:

1. In a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat, toast one tablespoon each of black peppercorns, sea salt, coriander seeds and fennel seeds with one teaspoon of cumin seeds and the finely grated zest of one lemon for four minutes, then tip into a large pestle and mortar. Pound until fine while you toast 1-3/4 ounce each of blanched almonds and hazelnuts in the hot pan for two minutes, adding 1-3/4 ounce of raw sesame seeds for a final minute. Tip it all into the mortar and pound into the mix with 1-3/4 ounce of shelled unsalted pistachios. Cool, then decant into an airtight jar and store until needed – it’ll keep happily for weeks!

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Together by Jamie Oliver is published in Canada by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2021 Together). Photography: Paul Stuart.