Chicken Marbella Ottolenghi With Dates And Olives
Ingredients
6 chicken thighs, breasts or drumsticks skin on and bone-in, scored a few times
4 garlic cloves crushed
¾ cup fresh cilantro leaves chopped plus more for serving
3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup pitted green olives
5 tablespoon capers plus 2 tablespoon of their brine
1 cup Natural Delights Medjool dates pitted and quartered lengthwise (equal to 7 individual dates or 120g)
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ cup dry red wine (120ml)
2 large sweet potatoes or 4 small cut into wedges
2 TBs date molasses can be replaced with pomegranate molasses, regular molasses or maple syrup
Directions
Prepare a large baking pan or baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper.
If you have time to marinate the chicken, place chicken pieces in a large bowl and add the garlic, cilantro, vinegar, oil, olives, capers, Medjool dates, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. If you are cooking the chicken straightaway, then rub the chicken with the salt and pepper prior to placing it in the marinade of garlic, cilantro, vinegar, oil, olives, capers, dates and bay leaves. Stir everything to combine, cover the bowl and let the chicken marinate for at least 2 hours, and up to two days.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Spread out the sweet potatoes along the sides of the baking sheet. Arrange chicken thighs, along with all the marinade ingredients, letting it overlap with the sweet potatoes. Whisk together the wine and molasses and pour over the meat.
Drizzle sweet potatoes with 3-4 TBs of olive oil and sprinkle generously with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
Place Ottolenghi Chicken Marbella with dates in the oven and cook for 50 minutes, basting two or three times, until the meat is golden brown on top and cooked through.
Remove tray from the oven, transfer chicken, sweet potatoes and everything else to a large platter, sprinkle with some fresh cilantro, and serve.
