Dukkah roast chicken & smashed aubergine

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
2. Get a roasting tray that will fit the chicken fairly snugly. Halve 1 pomegranate, squeeze all the juice through your fingers into the tray and drizzle in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Halve, deseed and finely chop the preserved lemons and place in the tray. Roughly chop and add the chilli, strip in the rosemary leaves, and season with sea salt and black pepper.
3. Add the chicken to the tray and rub that lovely flavour over the bird, getting into all the nooks and crannies. Set aside.
4. Prick the aubergines, place in a roasting tray with the unpeeled bulb of garlic.
5. Scrub the squash (there’s no need to peel it), then carefully cut in half and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Cut into chunky moon-shaped wedges, then add to a large roasting tray. Season with salt and plenty of pepper, pick in the sage leaves, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss together well. Arrange them so they’re flesh-side up, like little boats.
6. Pour 150ml of water into the tray around the chicken and place in the oven, along with the aubergine and squash.
7. Roast for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until the aubergines are blackened, blistered and soft, the squash is tender, and the chicken is golden and cooked through. Baste the chicken with the tray juices halfway through.
8. When the chicken is nearly ready, prepare the couscous. Place in a bowl with the oregano, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Pour in just enough boiling kettle water to cover, pop a plate on top and leave to fluff up.
9. Once ready, remove the chicken and veg from the oven, leaving the chicken to rest in its tray for 30 minutes.
10. Halve the aubergines lengthways, scoop out the middles into a large bowl, discarding the skin, then squash and break up the flesh. Squeeze the soft garlic flesh out of their skins into the bowl.
11. Add the tahini and squeeze in the lemon juice. Finely chop and add the parsley, stalks and all, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, then season to perfection, tasting and tweaking, and mix well.
12. Place the couscous onto a serving platter and spoon over the smashed aubergine. Place the chicken on top, drizzle with the honey and scatter over the dukkah, then arrange the squash around the sides. Halve the remaining pomegranate then, holding one half so it’s cut-side down in your fingers, bash with the back of a spoon so all the seeds tumble over the chicken (save the remaining pomegranate half for another day). Serve it all up with fragrant chicken juices from the tray – heaven!

Recipe adapted from Together by Jamie Oliver, published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2021 Together).