My first home cooked recipe idea of 2019, has been inspired by some great Middle Eastern recipes that I have read over the last few years from Sabrina Ghayour and one of my favourite Middle Eastern ingredient company – Belazu.

Some of you may have read my recent post, which featured a couple of Belazu’s amazing pesto’s, my first experience of this great ingredient company however was with their beautiful Harissa.

Harissa is a hot and aromatic paste used as an ingredient in a huge number of dishes as well as served as a condiment, it is so versatile and is a staple in many homes.

The Rose version of this delightful paste, simply adds rose to the chilli and spice mix, to give it a softer and slightly sweeter hit.

I love to use it with eggs in the morning or as a rub, which is exactly what I have done with this recipe.

Rose Harissa makes a perfect rub for chicken and it makes up the bulk of this rub.

I start by cutting up 2 red onions into quarters, these are then placed in the base of a roasting dish.

I then take a free range chicken and open it up. To do do this, simply turn over the bird and use a sharp knife to carefully open it up, this enables you to flatten out the bird.

I take the opened out chicken and place it onto the bed of onion.

I then create the rub which is really going to add beautiful flavour to the chicken. It contains.

• 4 Teaspoons of Belazu Rose Harissa
• The Zest of One Lemon (Unwaxed)
• Juice of One Lemon
• 5ml White Wine Vinegar
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste

The rub is then used to coat the entire chicken. For this I like to put on some gloves and give the bird a really good massage, making sure the entire bird is covered.

I drizzle the bird with some good quality olive oil (I’m using Belazu Pepe Olive Oil) and place it uncovered in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 50 mins.

When cooked through and the skin is looking beautifully cooked, remove and allow to rest. I sometimes like to add some fresh mint from the garden before serving.

You can check out the fantastic range of Belazu ingredients here