Harissa Spatchcock Chicken

I could live on this. It‘s super easy, it’s very adaptable, it’s healthy, it’s easy and it’s just simply a really good bite.

I always used to completely disregard cooking a whole chicken during the week after a full day at work because it seems to just take ages BUT when you spatchcock them and turn them into a one pan wonder, it takes way less time and is totally doable.

Another fave of mine.. enjoy 🤓

Ingredients

• Whole large chicken

• 5 Garlic cloves - peeled, left whole

• 1 courgette cut into 10mm pieces

• 2 large Vine tomatoes quartered

• 1 large Red onion halved then quartered

• 2 bell Peppers deseeded and roughly chopped into big pieces

• Salt

• Cracked black pepper

• Olive oil

• 2 red chillis - leave them whole

• 2 tablespoons of Harissa paste

Pre heat oven to 180degress and take the chicken out of the fridge for 30mins or so before cooking.

In a roasting tray, put the garlic, tomatoes, onions, peppers and chillis. Drizzle with olive oil and a good pinch of salt and cracked black pepper, mix around.

To spatchcock your chicken.. put it breast side down on a chopping board. With a large sharp knife you need to cut the backbone out.

Cut down one side of the back bone and then do exactly the same the other side. It’s around 40mm thick, basically each side of the ‘parsons nose’

You might find it easier to do this by placing the chicken upright on the board with the wings at the top.

Once you have done this, you need to crack the breast bone so the chicken lays flat like the picture below. To do this, with the breasts face down on the board, just push the breasts down simultaneously nice and firmly either side of the bone, you will hear a crack.

Give it a wash all over then place it on top of your veg in the tray.

Season the bird with salt and pepper, add a good glug of olive oil and the harissa. GET STUCK IN... with your hands is the only way to do this, remove those rings and rub the harissa, oil and seasoning all over that chicken.

Add a little water to the tray so the veg doesn’t burn and cook for around 1hr 15mins for a large chicken. It will roast quicker this way so keep an eye on it.

Baste it. Baste it again, baste it, then baste it. Do it very 15mins. This is essential to an amazingly moist chicken.

Check the juices run clear by poking the thickest part of the chicken, don’t over do it! You can check this as much as you want after the 1hr mark, don’t let it to dry out.

Take it out of the oven and put the chicken on another tray or plate, cover it with foil and a tea towel and let it rest for around 15mins.

Half it or chop it or carve it, whatever you prefer. Use a slotted serving utensil to grab a load of the veg.. be careful of garlic and chillis depending on your preference.. plate it! Voila.

I have this on its own because it’s enough for me but do some chips to go with for others or just some fresh bread and butter 🥰

** You can save the juices from the tray, skim the fat off and use it as a drizzle and also keep the backbone to use to make a stock another time **