This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I’d never heard of flat chicken. Until not one, not two, but THREE of my lovely friends, on separate occasions, extolled its virtues. Of course it’s a spatchcocked / butterflied chicken, but without any bones. How the butcher removes them I am unsure, but he says it is reasonably tricky and involves tweezers.
If you haven’t tried chicken this way, you might like to now that we are well and truly into the BBQ season. Flat chicken is super easy to carve and somehow has more meat so you seem to get an extra portion of the succulent meat.
Lay the flattened boneless chicken out on a roasting tray and slather the breast meat with seasoned butter (I added preserved lemon, garlic, herbs and black olives) or make up some sage and onion stuffing if you prefer. Fold over the leg meat into the centre to seal. You can pop the chicken into a hot oven for 20 mins and finish on the barbie.
Or simply season and slap on the BBQ…
Alternatively, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil then cook on the bbq – unstuffed – for 15 – 20 mins each side until the skin is crispy but the meat still succulently moist.
Chilli Spatchcocked Chicken
Spice it up a little with this chilli recipe:
Ingredients serves 6
1.8kg (3 3/4lb) chicken
For the marinade
2 limes, finely zested and juiced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1tbsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp olive oil
How to prepare
Blitz the marinade ingredients. Spread over the skin of the chicken and leave in the fridge for 1 hour to marinate.
Preheat the oven to gas 6, 200°C, fan 180°C. Place the chicken on a baking tray and cook for 20 minutes.
When the BBQ coals are white-hot with no flame, lay the chicken over them and cook for 10 mins or so each side until the chicken is cooked (yet moist) and the skin is crispy.
Loosely cover the chicken with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Fabulous served with…
Try serving spatchcocked chicken with Louloulapomme’s Asparagus and Dauphinoise pots. Next time I’m going to use the recipe I’ve been recommended by my friend Julia: Lemon and Honey Spatchcock Chicken with Quinoa and Broad Bean Salad she recommends fresh lemon (zest and juice) rather than preserved lemon. Last weekend I served the chicken with a baby spinach salad and Dauphinoise with lardons… was yum!