Hot and tender chicken with the crispiest skin, seasoned by a delicious salsa verde marinade. Anyone? Oh, and it just takes 45 minutes to cook. ANNNNYONE? The beauty of the spatchcocked chicken.
Here’s the plan: Prepare the bird and let it brine the night before you plan to eat it. The next evening, pop it into the oven about an hour before you’re ready to chow down. Keep the sides simple and maybe call it an early bedtime? My ideal night. Or you can make an evening of it on the weekend and prepare all the sides that are amazing to have alongside a roast chicken. Either way, you’ll be happy.
If you’ve never spatchcocked a chicken before, here is the breakdown with pictures. (Note: Try to imitate Julia Child saying, “Save the liver!” as you work. It’ll get your mind off the less fun task of working with raw meat.)
- Cut the backbone on either side (saving for stock would be a good choice!)
- Flip the chicken over, breast side up now, and press down firmly right in the middle until you hear a crack, flattening the chicken.
- Optional: Cut the wings off. Or tuck them under as the bird cooks.
- Then for this recipe, you will take some lovely salsa verde and rub it all over the bird right under the skin. Brine in the fridge for 24 hours for the juiciest chicken ever.
Serve with extra creamy salsa verde and maybe some sweet potato wedges? Or a simple green salad. Or keep the side real simple and sprinkle mango and jicama slices with chili powder and lime juice. NOM, NOM.
[tasty-recipe id=”1829″]
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