Roast Basil Spatchcock Chicken
Roast spatchcock chicken is a delightful recipe where the chicken is halved, cooked with fresh basil, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic. The chicken is then roasted until tender in these aromatic flavours and served.
Just to share a spatchcock chicken, or butterflied chicken, is the culinary term used when a whole chicken has the backbone cut, allowing the whole chicken to be pressed completely flat for faster cooking.
4
10 minutes
45 minutes +
180ºC
Ingredients
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1 large fresh chicken- fat trimmed, cut in half
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1 bulb garlic- broken into cloves, peeled, left whole
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2 large lemons- peel removed, juiced
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Large handful of fresh basil leaves
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4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
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250ml Balsamic vinegar
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Freshly ground black pepper
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Sea salt
Instructions
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Prepare chicken:
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01 Trim and remove excess fat, parsons nose and all excess skin. Then cut in half through the back, leaving breast intact. The chicken is then called a spatchcock of chicken or butterfly of chicken.
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Assemble to roast:
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02 Place ALL ingredients into a large roasting tin, chicken on the base and top with fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Season well and mix by hand to make sure all the ingredients are lightly coated with the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
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Roast:
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03 Place in a moderate hot oven for 45 minutes or so until the chicken is golden brown and juices running clear (when breast is pierced with a sharp knife).
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Serve:
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04 Allow the chicken to rest 10 minutes before taking to the table and enjoying with your favourite potatoes, rice and vegetables.
Notes
If you can only get small chickens, use two for the recipe. Keep an eye on the roasting time, as when a chicken is cut in half, the cooking time gets very much shortened when compared to a whole roasted chicken.
