Happy October! Lovely and warming, this chicken Tagine has exotic tasting spices, sweet peppers and apricots to cheer up any Autumn evening.

Serves 4.

8-10 free-range skinless chicken thighs, sliced into bite-size pieces
2 tsp paprika
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger

50g dried apricots, sliced
Pinch of saffron, soaked in a splash of hot water

1 red onion, finely sliced
200g peppers, sliced (I used three colours of peppers but you could use any)
1 tbsp lazy garlic

500ml chicken stock, hot
Low calorie extra virgin olive oil spray
1 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp honey
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

250g couscous
A few fresh mint sprigs, chopped
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

In a bowl, toss the chicken with the spices, cover with cling film and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Meanwhile, soak the apricots in a little hot water, add the saffron on top and leave for an hour.

Spray the olive oil spray into a large, deep-sided frying pan over a high heat. Add the chicken in 2 batches and brown all over. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.

Spray a little more oil into the pan and fry the onions over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until soft, add the peppers and cook all together for 5 minutes, stirring through the garlic for the last minute. Add a few splashes of water if necessary during this part to release all the flavours from the bottom of the pan.

Add the apricots and saffron along with the water, and the tomatoes, tomato purée and honey. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a steady simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes, then season with sea salt and ground black pepper.

Return the browned chicken pieces to the pan and carefully stir through. Simmer, partly covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Meanwhile prepare the couscous.

Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and cover with 250ml boiling water. Cover the bowl and leave for about 5 minutes and the couscous can be fluffed with a fork. Then mix in the mint, the lemon juice and most of the zest. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.

Serve the chicken tagine on top of a generous helping of couscous with, chopped fresh coriander and the remaining lemon zest scattered over.