Can be marinated for up to 2 days, or cooked straightaway.
If cooking straightaway, rub chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper instead of placing those in the marinade.
Adapted from Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins’s The Silver Palate, and Yotam Ottolenghi's Simple.
Course Main Course, Poultry
Cuisine Jewish, Middle Eastern
Keyword capers, chicken, Date molasses, dates, gluten-free, Medjool dates, olives, one pan meal, one tray bake, paleo, passover, sweet potatoes, wine
Prep Time 10minutes
Cook Time 50minutes
Resting time 2hours
Total Time 3hours
Servings 6people
Calories 509kcal
Author Ksenia Prints
Ingredients
6chicken thighs, breasts or drumsticksskin on and bone-in, scored a few times
4garlic clovescrushed
¾cupfresh cilantro leaveschopped plus more for serving
1cupNatural Delights Medjool datespitted and quartered lengthwise (equal to 7 individual dates or 120g)
2bay leaves
2teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonblack pepper
½cupdry red wine(120ml)
2large sweet potatoes or 4 smallcut into wedges
2TBsdate molassescan be replaced with pomegranate molasses, regular molasses or maple syrup
Instructions
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.