Can I Use Preserved Lemon Paste In The Slow-Cooker Moroccan Chicken Stew?

Our answer

Nigella's [Slow-Cooker Moroccan Chicken Stew](https://www.nigella.com/recipes/slow-cooker-moroccan-chicken-stew (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) is an easy hands-off dish where the ingredients are all added to the pot of a slow cooker and left to cook for around 4 hours. The ingredients include green olives and chopped preserved lemons as they give pops of tangy, salty flavour. Our preference would be to cook any greens separately and serve them on the side, rather than adding them to the stew.

We would mention that the preserved lemons don't actually completely dissolve into the sauce but remains as pieces within the stew, to be eaten or discarded as you wish. Preserved lemon paste also tends to be quite intense, so we would be cautious about adding the paste equivalent of 2-3 preserved lemons. We suggest stirring 1 tablespoon of preserved lemon paste into the chicken stock and tasting the liquid before adding it to the slow cooker. When you taste, bear in mind that you will also get some saltiness from the olives and the liquid will taste saltier when it heats up. If you feel that you would like a little more tang then add extra paste, a teaspoon at a time, until you get the level of citrus and salt that you would like, then add this mixture to the slow cooker. You may be able to stir a little extra paste into the stew before serving if you feel that this is necessary. However, please note that as we have not tried the dish ourselves with preserved lemon paste, we are unable to guarantee the results.