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Spatchcock Chicken
An easy and flavourful chicken dish, cooked on the bone to retain flavour, and grilled with a coating of harissa spices along with Mediterranean vegetables.
Harissa is an aromatic paste made from chillies, assorted spices and herbs. It is spicy and fragrant and widely used in North Africa and within Middle Eastern cuisines as a condiment, or mixed with water or tomato juice to add flavour to stews, soups or couscous.
In North Africa, it is also sometimes mixed with olive oil and used as a dip.
As it’s strong and pungent in flavour, a little goes a long way.
You can find it ready-made in jars and can be made fresh, the exact family recipe often passed down through generations.
Grilled harissa spiced chicken with grilled vegetables
Ingredients
1 Free-range chicken 750g – cut for spatchcock
50g harissa paste
2 white Spanish onions
2 red peppers
2 yellow peppers
2 green peppers
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Vegetable oil
Method
Heat your gas grill or prepare your charcoal grill to prepare for grilling.
Mix the harissa paste with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Massage the paste into the chicken covering both skin side and underside.
Peel and slice the onions into 1cm thick rings and cut each pepper into ¼’s, removing the seeds and stalk.
Place both the onions and peppers into a bowl, mix with 1 tablespoon of oil and season with salt and pepper.
Keep aside for later.
Place the chicken on the preheated grill and cook for 40 to 50 mins, turning as needed to give an even cooking https://www.brooklyngrill.com/best-bbq-grill-tongs/ and reach an internal temperature of 75C/165F. https://www.brooklyngrill.com/soraken-wireless-meat-thermometer/
For the final 15 minutes baste the chicken well with any left over harissa oil. Once cooked, place onto a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Whilst the chicken is resting, place the seasoned peppers and onions onto the grill and cook until soft.
Transfer the onions, peppers and chicken to a serving tray – a warmed skillet works well. Serve family style.
Suggestion
This recipe works really well with other types of spices and marinades.
Ideal accompaniments include potato salad, mixed leaves, warm pitta and herbed soured cream.
