Harissa roast chicken with bell peppers

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 roast chicken (frozen or fresh) or 4 chicken legs
• 3 bell peppers, colored
• 6 Pepper, fresh, Cin Biber (Turkish grocery store)
• 6 bell peppers, Turkish, “Sivri” medium hot
• 2 red chili peppers
• 2 m.-sized onion(s), white or red or mixed
• 4 m.-sized potatoes
• 1 tube(s) harissa paste (70 g)
• 4 tbsp olive oil for frying
• Salt and pepper from the mill
• e.g. sesame, peeled, even better: Ducca

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

Wash the roast chicken or chicken thighs thoroughly with water and pat dry with kitchen paper. If using a whole chicken, cut it open along the back (do not cut all the way through!), then open it up like a book and place it skin-side up on the work surface and press it flat. Clean the peppers and cut or break them into bite-sized rectangles. Cut the chili peppers and Turkish paprika into large pieces (2-3 cm), and cut the chili into fine rings. Halve the onion and separate the halves into three wedges, then remove the onion leaves (separating the onion layers). Peel and wash the potatoes. Halve the potatoes and cut the halves again into 2-3 wedges. In a suitable baking dish (metal or ceramic), squeeze the entire tube of harissa almost into a small mountain. (You should have 1-2 teaspoons of harissa left over for later use.) Now add 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the harissa and season with salt and pepper. Add all the prepared vegetables (peppers, onions, potatoes, etc.) and mix well with your hands until the harissa mixture is evenly distributed. Rub the chicken thighs or the opened roast chicken with the harissa-covered hands, using the rest of the tube (the saved 1-2 teaspoons). Massage the paste in well and evenly. Then place the chicken or chicken thighs, skin-side up, on top of the marinated vegetables in the baking dish. If you like, you can sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds or ducca on the chicken. Place in the preheated oven (180°C top and bottom heat) on the middle rack for 50 minutes.