Marinaded Chicken Oven Bake with Homemade Harissa

In the spirit of all my cooking and knowing the ingredients I cook with are fresh and without preservatives, here is another easy recipe to make from scratch.
Making your own harissa paste could not be simpler. You can use it to make a tagine, marinade chicken, cook a delectable fish stew or spice up some lamb chops. You can also control the heat and flavour of your paste.

2 long fresh red chillies
2t toasted ground caraway seeds
1 T toasted ground  cumin seeds
1 T toasted ground coriander seeds

1t ground cinnamon

2t smoked paprika

2 garlic cloves

1t freshly grated ginger
1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded
1T tomato puree
1T lemon juice

6T extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

Toast the spices and grind them. I use an old coffee grinder.

Slice the chillies in half lengthways. Lay each chilli on a chopping board cut-side up and gently scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon . Roughly chop the chillies and transfer to a food processor with a sharp blade. Blend all the ingredients together to make a smooth paste. You can store it in the fridge in a sterilised bottle for up to 2 weeks. If it appears too thick, mix with a little olive oil to loosen.

Chicken oven bake

Need a recipe to use your paste? This is so simple to make in a one tray oven bake meal.

6 pieces chicken

1 cup natural yoghurt

2T harissa paste

1 red onion cut into 6 pieces

1 butternut cut into 6 pieces

1 large potato cut into 6 pieces

6 sprigs fresh lemon thyme

Mix the yoghurt and harissa and place in a non metallic oven tray. Marinade the chicken in the yoghurt over night.

Toss the onion, butternut and potatoes in olive oil. Place in the oven tray with the chicken. Scatter over the fresh thyme.

Bake at 190C for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with chopped parsley and lemon wedges.

Banting: replace the butternut and potato with your favourite veggies.