03/01/2012

Chicken and Olive Tagine (Meslalla)

This is a special dish of feasting and celebration related to a very special time of the year — the much awaited olive harvest. Zeitoun (olive) season in Morocco is sometime in autumn but thanks to the availability of beautiful olives in markets all year round, this dish can be made anytime and not only as a part of the harvest ritual.

This is my version of meslalla, a Moroccan preparation of well seasoned olives, cracked or chopped and cooked with a meat of choice. It is heaven on a plate for olive lovers, and I am an olive lover.

 


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CHICKEN AND OLIVE TAGINE RECIPE

Yield: 4 SERVINGS

Prep Time: 10 MIN

Cook Time: 50 MIN

Ingredients:

For the chicken
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, cut into thin strips
4 chicken cutlets (about 1 pound total)
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 ¼ cups chicken broth, at room temperature

For the olive meslalla
1 cup pitted green olives
1 cup pitted black olives
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a tagine over low heat. Add the red onions. Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper and add them to the tagine. Sautee 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.

Add the chicken broth. Cover with the tagine lid and cook, undisturbed, until the chicken is cooked and tender, 40 to 50 minutes.

Chop the olives (somewhat) finely. Place them in a bowl. Add the pressed garlic, dried basil, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss.

Place the olive mixture on top of the chicken. Place the lid back on the tagine and cook 10 minutes.

Serve warm. If you have any preserved lemons on hand, they would make an excellent garnish.

Other Olive Recipes:

Olive and Fig Tapenade

Marinated Olives

Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives

Posted in Chicken, Gluten-Free Dinners, Meat, Moroccan Recipes, Recipes, Tagine
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10 Responses to “Chicken and Olive Tagine (Meslalla)”

  1. 1

    Kalyn — 03/01/2012 @ 6:42 pm

    Oh wow, this sounds just fantastic. Love seeing the photo of you too.

  2. 2

    Kiran @ KiranTarun.com — 03/01/2012 @ 8:01 pm

    Yummers!! I love tagine’s and this looks like a doable recipe for me :)

  3. 3

    Paula — 03/01/2012 @ 8:58 pm

    Just love how you updated this dish!

  4. 4

    Nisrine — 03/02/2012 @ 5:19 am

    Kalyn and Kiran, if you like olives you’ll really love this.

    Paula, thank you. :)

  5. 5

    Sima — 03/02/2012 @ 6:04 am

    This looks amazing! I’m a real olive lover so this is right up my alley. If I don’t have a tagine, what pot/pan would work best? I have a skillet w/ high sides-would that do? Take care.

  6. 6

    Bria @ West of Persia — 03/02/2012 @ 11:39 am

    Niiiiccceeee. Easy and healthy, too!

  7. 7

    Nisrine — 03/02/2012 @ 3:49 pm

    Sima – yes, a skillet w/ high sides-would work too.

  8. 8

    Eha — 03/02/2012 @ 5:06 pm

    Like a child I feel like saying ‘OMG’! I love olives but have never cooked anything like this: and so easy and so healthy! This recipe will not even be filed but will be tried at tomorrow’s Sunday lunch! Thank you :) !

  9. 9

    Nisrine — 03/03/2012 @ 6:45 am

    Eha – I’m glad it’s caught your eye. I hope you like it.

  10. 10

    kitchenriffs — 03/04/2012 @ 10:59 am

    What a great dish! I love olives, but have never eaten a tagine where they were the main ingredient. Great post – thanks.

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