Roasted in a skillet, this smoky Peri Peri Chicken combines melt in the mouth tender chicken with a spicy flavour bomb marinade which is also tangy, herby and loaded with garlic. Accompanied by cooling Coriander and Chilli Yoghurt and soft and crispy Hasselback Potatoes, this is a meal you will be cooking over and over again.
Hasselback Potatoes:
For the Coriander and Chilli Yoghurt Dressing:
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Peri Peri Chicken: make slashes over the surface of the chicken, through the skin and into the flesh. Brush over ½ of the marinade, on all sides of the chicken, making sure you brush it into the cuts. Reserve the remaining marinade.
Leave to marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes or preferably up to 24 hours, covered and in the fridge.
Take the chicken out of the fridge roughly 30 minutes before you want to cook it and cover with foil – it is always best to start cooking chicken when it is at room temperature rather than straight from the fridge. Whilst it is warming up, prepare your hasselback potatoes.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 200°C /220°C/425°F/Gas 7
Hasselback potatoes: lay your potatoes down on their longest and flattest side. Slice into the potatoes but do not cut through completely. I cut around 4/5 of the way into the potato and each slice is approximately ½ cm each.
Drizzle over half the olive oil, trying to get as much as possible between the slices of potatoes. Use your hands to do this and to ensure the skin is covered in oil.
Place on skillet or baking tray and grind over some sea salt and black pepper.
Cook the chicken and potatoes:
a) caluclate how long it takes to cook the chicken
b) the potatoes will take approximately 1 hour and 15 – 30 minutes to cook, depending on their size. Calculate when to put in the oven allowing for the time it takes to cook your chicken plus 15 minutes resting time. The potatoes should come out of the oven at the same time as the chicken has finished resting.
c) cook the potatoes and the foil covered chicken, putting in the oven at the required time (s). The potatoes should be on the shelf below the chicken.
d) set the timer to come on 30 minutes before the chicken should be cooked. Ths will be 45 minutes before the potatoes are due to finish cooking.
Baste the Chicken and Potatoes: when the timer rings -
a) take the potatoes and chicken out of the oven and remove the foil from the chicken
b) brush the chicken with the reserved marinade.
c) brush the potatoes with the remaining half of the olive oil, trying to get the oil between the slices
Continue to cook the chicken without foil for a further 30 minutes and the potatoes for a further 45 minutes.
Make the Coriander and Chilli Yoghurt: prepare the ingredients and blitz the herbs in the food processor or chop finely by hand.
Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse until thoroughly mixed.
To serve: when the chicken is cooked, leave to rest for 15 minutes before carving and eating. Serve it with the potatoes and the yoghurt on the side. A crispy salad and/or roast or steamed vegetables would be an excellent accompaniment.
Equipment:
Cooking time:
The length of time a chicken takes to cook will depend on both its size and also the temperature of the oven. This method is a quick method using a hot oven: