Summer Spatchcock Chicken
Introduction
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 preserved lemon
1 medium-sized eggplant (aubergine), trimmed and cubed
2 yellow or red peppers (bell peppers / capsicums), halved, cored, deseeded and cubed
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
400g (12 oz) small new potatoes
3 green or yellow zucchini (courgette), cut into fat chunks, or 200g mini peppers
150g (5 oz) small plum tomatoes
3-4 sprigs French tarragon (or 1 Tbsp dried tarragon)
6 fresh bay leaves
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp freshly crushed coriander seeds
Basil, optional
Method
1 Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
To’ spatchcock’ the chicken, cut it in half, cutting down each side of the backbone with a pair of scissors or poultry shears, and force it to lie flat (snap the thigh and wing ball and socket joints). Pull off any fat and discard. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with a little salt and grind on a little black pepper. (I often cut one side of the backbone only, leaving it attached to the other side of the chicken, as it provides good flavour to a dish like this.)
2 Wash preserved lemon, part dry and cut into thick strips. Put all the vegetables, herbs and preserved lemon in a roasting dish (about 37cm x 25cm / 14” x 9-10”). Nestle chicken skin side up among the vegetables, tucking rosemary sprigs underneath; the vegetables will be mounded quite high around the chicken but they shrink as they cook, and prevent the juices scorching at the end. Drizzle everything with olive oil, then season with flaky sea salt, black pepper and crushed coriander seeds.
3 Roast the chicken and vegetables for 45 minutes. Remove dish from oven, stir vegetables to ensure even browning and turn chicken over. Cook for 30 minutes, then turn chicken breast up again. Stir vegetables and continue cooking until chicken is golden and cooked through, about 1½ hours’ in total.
4 Remove dish from oven, tilt dish and spoon any juices over chicken. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Dish chicken onto a board and drape loosely with foil. Let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. Keep vegetables warm in a low oven, or on top of the oven loosely draped with tin foil or serve them at room temperature. Carve chicken and serve with vegetables. If liked, scatter with basil.
