Spatchcock chicken, chorizo, tomatoes and cream with Greek greens
Mix up your Sunday roast with this delicious Greek-style creamy tomato and chorizo crispy chicken served with slow cooked Greek greens.
Ingredients
For the spatchcocked chicken
- 1.8kg/4lb whole chicken
- ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 slices sourdough bread, torn into large pieces
- 2 onions, unpeeled, cut into wedges
- 1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally
- 125g/4½oz cooking chorizo, finely chopped
- 400g/14oz cherry tomatoes
- 10g fresh basil
- 150ml/5fl oz double cream
- 30g/1oz Parmesan, finely grated
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Greek greens
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 3 onions, finely chopped
- 3 celery sticks, trimmed and sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes or 400g/14oz fresh, ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
- ½ tsp caster sugar
- 500ml/18fl oz vegetable stock
- 600g/1lb 5oz green beans, runner beans or a mixture of both, trimmed and roughly chopped
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 10g mixed soft herbs, such as dill and flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped, to serve
- 1–2 tbsp small capers, to serve
Method
To make the spatchcocked chicken, preheat your oven to 240C/220C Fan/Gas 9.
To spatchcock the chicken, cut down either side of the chicken’s backbone and parsons’ nose with a pair of large, sturdy scissors or poultry shears and discard it (or save it for stock). Lay the chicken out flat like a book, skin side up. Press firmly on the breastbone with the heel of your hand to really flatten it out.
Place the spatchcocked chicken onto a plate and sprinkle with the sweet smoked paprika, oregano and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and rub it all in.
Line a large roasting tin with the sourdough pieces. Scatter the cherry tomatoes all around the chicken, then tear over half the basil leaves.
Drizzle everything with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place into the oven.
Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and roast for around 1 hour. Halfway through, baste the chicken, if possible, with any juices.
Meanwhile, to make the Greek greens, add the olive oil to a large lidded saucepan, it should fill it 1cm/½in deep, over a medium heat. Add the onions and celery and fry for 10 minutes to soften slightly, reducing the heat a little as needed.
Stir in the garlic, then after a couple of minutes, add the tomato puree. Follow with the chopped tomatoes, sugar and stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir the beans into the tomato sauce. Cover the pan and continue to cook for 30 minutes or until the veg is soft. You don’t want it to be watery, so remove the lid and boil vigorously for a final 5–10 minutes to thicken the stew.
After an hour, the chicken skin should be crisp, carefully lift it onto a plate or tray and leave to rest for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, carefully remove the garlic bulb halves from the roasting tin. Squeeze the cloves back into the tin and discard the skins.
Pour the cream into the tin and mix everything together, breaking up the rich, chewy sourdough as you go. Add most of the Parmesan and stir again. Either return the chicken to the tin, or spoon the bread sauce on to a platter and top with the chicken.
Finish by grating over the remaining Parmesan and scattering with the rest of the basil leaves.
Season the greens with salt and pepper to taste and serve, drizzled with more extra virgin olive oil and scattered with the chopped herbs and capers, alongside the chicken.
