Simple Butterflied Whole Chicken
4 simple ingredients plus some oven magic give you one beautifully crispy delicious roasted chicken in less than an hour. Give it a try. Now!! :))
In preparation for the holiday season I am sharing with you a recipe for a classic technique to cook chicken and turkey: butterflying the bird to reduce the required cooking time with a bonus crispy-golden-crunchy skin.
We started using this roasting technique for our Thanksgiving turkey and following its great reviews and feedback we decided to roast the chicken the same way.
Many recipes are now available to apply this butterflying technique. You can also find it under spatchcock chicken.
The results are delicious: moist chicken with a golden crispy skin.
You can simply season the chicken with sea salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil, or you can choose to marinate it for a few hours prior to roasting, in a mix of herbs, extra virgin olive oil, wine, garlic etc…
I use small organic whole chickens.
Bon Appétit!
Simple Butterflied Whole Chicken
Recipe credits: Rafaella Sargi
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (around 4 lb / 2 kg)
Salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Directions
You will need one large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, one oven safe wire rack (same size as the baking sheet), poultry scissors and a meat thermometer.
Heat the oven to 425F ( 220C)
On a large cutting board (or working surface), place the chicken breast-side down with the tail facing you. Using poultry scissors, remove the backbone of the bird by cutting along the backbone right side, then the left side. Detach the backbone completely from the chicken and discard or set aside for chicken stock.
Flip the chicken over, breast-side facing you, cut or brake the wishbone. Using your hands, apply pressure on the chicken breasts. The bird should be slightly flattened.
Keeping the chicken in that “butterfly” position, with the breast-side facing you, place it on the wire rack. Coat the chicken with the olive oil, making sure to rub the skin well. Season all part of the chicken skin with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Put in the hot oven and let it cook for about 45 minutes or until a thermometer reads 165F / 75C when inserted in the thickest part of the chicken.
Remove the cooked chicken and cover with aluminum foil and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.
You can serve it Lebanese style with a few dollops of Aioli on the side.
