Salsa Verde Spatchcock Chicken
Who would think that by stuffing herbs under the skin of a chicken could make it much more delicious?
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
For the salsa verde stuffing:
1 large bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, ideally grown outdoors in a hot country; it should be full flavoured with fairly large leaves
Plum sauce
1 pickled plum
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp salt
1/2 btl black olives
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
(Preheat oven to 210˚c after step 4. Place chicken breast-side down with the wings/ neck facing towards you. To remove the spine, use kitchen shears to cut through the ribs right next to the spine along both sides. Open rib cage and use a heavy knife to score down the sternum. This will help pop out the breast bone and flatten chicken. Season inside the chicken with 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper.
Flip the chicken over breast side up and set on parchment-lined, rimmed baking half sheet. Using the palm of your hand, push firmly over the breast bone forcing the chicken to lay completely flat. Use your thumbs to separate the skin from the meat over breast, thigh and drumstick areas.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the flavored butter ingredients. Mash with fork for a couple of minutes until lemon juice is mostly incorporated into butter.
Spread 2/3 of mixture under the chicken skin and and dot/spread remaining butter all over chicken.
Place prepared vegetables all around the chicken and drizzle everything with olive oil. Sprinkle chicken and vegetables generously with salt and some black pepper to taste.
Bake uncovered at 425˚F /210˚c for 45 min or until instant read thermometer reads 160˚F when inserted into thickest part of chicken breast**. Remove form oven and rest uncovered 10 minutes on a cutting board before serving.
While the chicken is cooking, make the salsa verde. Cut off and discard three-quarters of the parsley stalks. Place the remaining parsley on a wooden board and chop it using a mezzaluna. The texture (rough or fine) is up to you, depending how you like your salsa verde. I opt for a rough chop if it's going to accompany roast or grilled chicken or fish, but I prefer an almost paste-like version for serving with bollito misto.
Add the anchovy fillets, garlic and salt to the parsley and continue chopping until they are combined.
For a loose, rough-textured salsa, put the chopped ingredients into a large bowl, add some pepper and pour in the oil slowly whilst stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The finished salsa should look like very wet chopped parsley with specks of anchovy and garlic still being visible.
For a paste-like consistency, put the parsley mixture into a marble mortar, add the chopped capers and vinegar, and pound together, using a light circular movement of the pestle against the sides. When the parsley drips bright green liquid, add the pepper and a thin layer of olive oil, and mix very lightly.
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