Recipe: Sweet & spicy apricot harissa chicken drumsticks

This simple tray bake has wonderful, sweet, spicy and sour flavours – a favourite combination for chicken, and like a more adult version of barbecued chicken. Serve with rice or potatoes and salad for a delicious, easy meal.

Harissa, a north African chilli paste, adds tremendous depth and is wonderfully spicy, without knocking your head off. You’ll find it in most grocery stores these days. It’s often sold in a squeezy metal tube or a glass jar, making it easy to use just a little at a time.

Ingredients

2 kg of chicken drumsticks

Salt

5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated

Zest of 1 lemon

1⁄3 cup (115 g) apricot jam (see Note)

1⁄4 cup (60 ml) white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons harissa paste

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 brown onions, cut into wedges

Method

1.  Preheat your oven to 240°C  conventional/220°C fan-forced.

2. Season the chicken drumsticks with salt and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the garlic, lemon zest, apricot jam, vinegar, harissa, paprika and olive oil.

4. Add the chicken and onion and toss together.

5. Transfer the mixture to a baking tray lined with baking paper, ensuring all the drumsticks fit together snugly. (This is important – if the drumsticks are too spread out, everything burns.)

6. Bake for 45 minutes, basting the chicken with the pan juices after 30 minutes.

7. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

Images and text from Made Simple by Danielle Alvarez, photography: Lean Timms. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.