Chicken Tagine With Fennel, Chickpeas, and Apricots
Why this recipe works: While traditional spice blends for Moroccan tagines can contain upward of 30 spices, we found just a few everyday spices were necessary to recreate the authentic notes of Moroccan chicken tagine in a simple skillet meal. We used skin-on chicken thighs and browned the meat; then we browned fennel in the rendered fat and bloomed a blend of spicy, earthy, and warm ground spices and a whole cinnamon stick, which cooked with the dish and infused the whole thing with flavor. We added a few broad ribbons of lemon zest as well to give the tagine a rich citrus back note. Brine-cured olives provided the meatiness and piquant flavor of hard-to-find Moroccan ones, and some dried apricots, which plumped among the chickpeas and broth, created well rounded sweetness for this well-spiced dish. Chopped parsley, stirred in right before serving, was the perfect finishing touch to freshen the flavors.Serves 4 to 6
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra as needed
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed
- 8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large fennel bulb, stalks discarded, bulb halved and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges through core
- 3 (2-inch) strips lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for serving
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup pitted large brine-cured green or black olives, halved
- 1/2 cup dried apricots, halved
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
