Looking for inspiration for your Easter lunch? Star baker Flora Shedden has plenty of ideas for adding sparkle to your spring entertaining
Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Herb Mayo
Serves: 4
Prepare: 30 minutes
Cook: 1 hour, 30 minutes
1 medium free-range chicken
1 lemon, quartered
1 whole garlic bulb, halved widthways
1 large onion or 2 banana shallots,
quartered
100 g white wine
50g unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsps olive oil
25g flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
For the herb mayo:
1 egg
½ tsp grainy mustard
½ tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed, or 4 roasted
garlic cloves from the chicken
200g sunflower oil
2 tsps lemon juice
10g flat-leaf parsley
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. To spatchcock the chicken, place it on your chopping board, breast-side down. Use your fingers to identify the spine. Place the tip of a large sharp knife to one side of the spine and cut down through the ribs, being careful not to damage the breasts below. Repeat on the other side, then give the bird a half turn and repeat on both sides again. (If you have a good pair of butcher’s scissors, you can simply snip the spine out on both sides.) Flip the chicken over and press down in the middle of the breasts to flatten. Place in a deep roasting dish or tin, ideally one suitable for serving in. Arrange the lemon, garlic and onion around the chicken.
2. In a food processor, combine the wine, butter, oil, parsley and seasoning, and blitz for 3 minutes, or until smooth. Don’t worry if the mixture looks like it’s curdled, continue to blitz and a paste will eventually form.
3. Massage the paste evenly over the top of the chicken skin. Roast for about 1.5 hours, or until cooked through. You want to baste every 30 minutes or so to prevent the chicken and garlic cloves from drying out. When cooked, remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, begin making the mayonnaise. Place the egg, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper in a food processor and blitz to a paste. If you are using the punchier raw garlic (rather than the roasted cloves), add it now and ensure it gets well distributed. With the motor still running, trickle in the sunflower oil, a little at a time. You can do this by hand with a whisk and bowl, but it will take longer! If you’re using the roasted garlic, simply squeeze it out of the cloves and mash it up a little with a fork, then whisk it into the mayonnaise. Finally, whisk in the lemon juice and finely chopped parsley.
5. Serve the chicken dish and the herb mayo with some new potatoes.
Ingredient swaps
Grainy mustard - Dijon mustard Cast
