This oven-roasted chicken can also be spatchcocked and barbecued. If you don’t like it too hot, adjust the amount of chillies in the piri-piri marinade
Prep:15 mins
Serves 4-6
1 chicken, about 2kg
STEP 1To make the marinade, tip the dried chillies and the vinegar into a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave the chillies to soak until the vinegar is cold. Put the red chillies, garlic, soaked dried chillies and vinegar in a food processor and blitz. Add the smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, sugar, a pinch of salt and the lemon juice. Blitz again to a paste and set aside. STEP 2Sit the chicken in a shallow dish and use a small knife to score all over with cuts 1cm deep. Make sure you do the legs and the underside. Tip the marinade over the chicken and massage into the cuts. Cover and chill for at least 4 hrs, but overnight would be better.STEP 3When you’re ready to cook, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roast the chicken for 1 hr, then turn the heat up to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and cook for a further 30-35 mins until a crust has formed on the outside of the chicken.STEP 4Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 30 mins. Serve with homemade wedges or jacket potatoes, coleslaw, some buttered corn cobs and chilli & mint peas.
