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portuguese chicken on large oval serving dish with lemon halves

Portuguese Chicken

Deborah
The spatchcocked chicken is delicious and tender, and the piri piri sauce is full of flavour with a nice kick of heat!
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Marinating time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Portuguese
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • 2 small red chillies roughly chopped
  • 80g roasted red peppers from a jar
  • 0.5 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp sweet pimenton or smoked paprika
  • 1 lemon zest and juice
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1.6 to 2kg whole chicken (preferably free range – they’re juicier!)
  • 150g mayonnaise (good quality – Heinz is my favourite!)
  • 2 lemons halved
  • sea salt flakes or fine sea salt

Instructions
 

  • Combine the garlic, chilli, pepper, oregano, paprika, lemon zest and juice, and Worcestershire sauce in a blender or small food processor. Blend to a smooth paste. Reserve a third of this pepper mixture.
  • Line a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper. Now it’s time to spatchcock that chicken: using sharp kitchen scissors, cut the chicken either side of the backbone. Remove and discard the backbone. Open the chicken out, turn it over and flatten it by pressing down with the heel of your hand along the breastbone. Place the now spatchcocked chicken on the prepared baking tray, along with the lemon halves. Score the skin and flesh and then brush the remaining pepper mixture all over the chicken. Cover and put it into the fridge for 1 hour to marinate.
  • Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
  • Season the chicken with sea salt flakes or fine sea salt. Roast for 50-60 minutes, occasionally brushing the pan juices back over the chicken.
  • Meanwhile, mix the reserved pepper mixture with the mayonnaise – set aside for serving.
  • Remove the chicken from the oven and cover with tin foil. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
  • Serve the chicken with the pepper mayonnaise and chargrilled lemon halves.   We enjoyed ours with chunky oven chips and tender stem broccoli.   The choice of sides is yours…salad and baked potatoes would be good too! 

Notes

  • It was the fact that the chicken was spatchcocked that made it really appealing to make, however, I’m sure it would still be delicious if you wanted to use chicken drumsticks, thighs and or legs…you’d just need to adjust the cooking time to approx. 20 to 30 minutes
 
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Keyword Nando's, piri piri, spatchcock chicken, whole chicken