Chicken-stuffed olives braised in tomato sauce with white beans

Cook onions and a little garlic in olive oil until the onions are translucent; do not brown the garlic.

Add curry powder and paprika to the hot oil to wake up the flavors.

Add crushed tomatoes and a little water and simmer about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes fall apart.

Flavor the sauce with chopped capers and rinsed, diced preserved lemon.

Variation: to preserve lemons, cut them almost all the way through, pack into a non-reactive glass jar, pour over a boiled brine of water and salt, and wait about six weeks.

Add the cooked white beans, discarding the onions and herbs they were cooked with. The sauce can be made a week ahead and refrigerated.

For the filling, mix the chilled parsley and onions with the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, grated Gruyere and crumbled feta; add more breadcrumbs if wet and a little pepper.

Cut the pitted olives halfway through, top to bottom, to open them.

With floured hands, force about a tablespoon of filling into each olive and shape the rest around the outside into an even ball.

Dredge in flour, dip in egg using two forks, and fry in hot olive oil about five minutes, turning, until golden all over.

Put the meatballs into the sauce and heat together about 10 minutes.

Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro, or roasted green peppers as in Tunisia.