Piri Piri Inspired Roast Chicken

Change up your roast chicken game with this piri piri inspired chicken. This was one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever had in my life. This was originally supposed to be piri piri chicken, but I didn’t have all of the necessary ingredients and ended up adding ingredients of my own. The backbone of the dish, the marinade, turns into a lacquered, caramelized crust that is simply irresistible. I will say that this is a bit more hands on than most roast chicken dishes, but every extra bit of effort does make a difference in the end. You will need a spatchcocked chicken for this, but if you would like to skip this step, you can buy it like so or ask your butcher to do it for you. The dish can also be done with individual chicken pieces if you prefer but cooking times will vary.

Recipe

Serves 2-4

Marinade

• 1 whole chicken
• 1/2 c water
• 1 red bell pepper, quartered
• 1 large red onion, quartered
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 1 fresno chili, halved
• 3 serrano chilis, halved
• 6 garlic cloves, whole and peeled
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 tbsp honey
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 2 sprigs rosemary, stems removed, roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs thyme, stems removed, roughly chopped

1. Start off by quartering a red bell pepper, red onion, and a tomato. Halve a fresno chili and 3 serrano chilis. Peel 6 cloves of garlic and leave them whole. In a large pan over high heat with just a little bit of oil, char all over, then add water and deglaze, scraping off the stuck bits off the bottom. Once the water is fully evaporated, remove pan off heat.
2. Blend charred veggies with tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, honey, lemon juice, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, cilantro, rosemary, and thyme. Make sure the marinade is perfectly smooth, and wait for it to cool down to room temperature.
3. If your chicken isn’t already spatchcocked, now is the time to do so. Here’s a quick YouTube video showcasing how to do that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppa1bxB89vg
4. Liberally season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Pour the marinade over it and rub it in to ensure even coating. Let marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.

Cooking Method

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or butter
• Chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Take chicken out of the fridge one hour before cooking time.
2. Preheat an oven to 400ºF.
3. Scrape off excess marinade from chicken, reserve this marinade and pour it into a saucepan. reduce marinade over medium low while cooking the chicken.
4. In a large pan that can fit the entire chicken, get olive oil to its smoke point over high heat. Lay chicken into the pan breast and thigh side down and stack a heavy pan on top of the chicken. This added weight from the top ensures better and more even browning on the skin. Turn heat down to medium and cook for 20 minutes. Then, throw the chicken into the oven (keep the pan on top of the chicken) for another 20 minutes.
5. Bring the chicken out from the oven. Remove the weight and flip the chicken over. By this time, almost all of the excess liquid from the marinade reducing should have been evaporated. Stream in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (or butter). Brush desired amount of the marinade onto the breast and thighs. Throw the chicken back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Let rest for 15-20 minutes.
6. Optionally serve with chopped cilantro for garnish