I am really enjoying reading and cooking from Jamie Oliver’s new book Jamie Cooks Italy
So many lovely recipes and a really interesting guide to authentic Italian dishes with a Jamie twist.
I was keen to try “Chicken Under a Brick” just because I wanted to cook with an actual house brick! I had a few lying around in the back garden, so I washed one and wrapped it in foil and I was ready to go.
The recipe is for a whole chicken cut in half – I baked just one half, but the recipe below has Jamie’s original quantities.
I ate the left over chicken on toasted ciabatta – it was great cold as well!
Ingredients
1 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 fresh red chillies
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 bunch of fresh mint (30g)
1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (30g)
300ml extra virgin olive oil
100ml red wine vinegar
1 X 2kg whole chicken
Olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 240 degrees C. Get two bricks, wash
well, then completely cover each with a triple layer of tin foil. Place in the oven with a large pan or roasting tray to heat through.
Meanwhile, to make the salsa, peel the onion and garlic, then finely chopwith the chillies and place in a bowl with the fennel seeds. Rip off the top leafy half of the mint and parsley, including any tender stalks, then finely chop and add to the bowl ciawith the extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Add 1 teaspoon each of sea salt and black pepper, and mix well.
Use a large sharp knife to carefully cut the chicken in half lengthways. Slash the thighs and drumsticks at 3cm intervals and rub all over with a little olive oil. Carefully remove the pan and bricks from the oven, then place the chicken in the pan, skin side down. Place a hot brick on each chicken half, press down, then cook in the oven for 45 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Remove the bricks and pour the salsa straight over the chicken halves in the pan, ensuring they’re well covered. Leave to
rest for 10 minutes, then pull the chicken out of the salsa on to a platter and serve.
As mentioned in the introduction, I toasted ciabatta and piled left over cooked chicken on top – great for lunch or a snack.
The Quirk and the Cool 