Pan-Seared Peri-Peri Chicken

• servings: 6-8
• active time: 1 hour
• total time: 1 hour (+ overnight)

Ingredients

2 whole chickens

3 tbsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp butter

Salt & black pepper

Peri-Peri Marinade

5 fresh Fresno chilis, roughly chopped

3 medium shallots, roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 lemon, juiced and zested

¾ cup olive oil

4 tbsp tomato paste

1½ white wine vinegar

3 tbsp dried thyme

3 dry bay leaves

Directions

We first need to marinate the chicken at least overnight, up to 2 days.

Combine all the ingredients (EXCEPT the olive oil) in a food processor / blender and mix until relatively smooth. Scrape this mixture out into a bowl and add the olive oil, stirring until well combined. Lightly season with a good pinch of salt and set aside for now. (Adding the olive oil into the food processor would make the marinade more orange than red overall).

Remove your whole chickens from their packaging and discard any giblets or internal organs in the inside cavity. Dry the outside with paper towels and place them on a large cutting board.

Remove the backbones from each of the chicken using the kitchen shears and spatchcock both of them (reserve the backbones for making stock if you want). This process is best explained by looking up a quick video demonstration if you need a refresher.

Add the 3 tbsp smoked paprika to both sides of the chickens, getting a nicely even spread. Use more than 3 tbsp if you need. Apply the marinade to the bottom side of one of the chickens, then add it to a large bowl skin-side up. Add some marinade to the top and repeat with the other chicken.

Add the rest of the marinade to the bowl and cover it all in plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the fridge to allow the chicken to marinate for overnight or 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Remove the bowl from the fridge. Take the chickens out of the bowl and scrape off most of the solid marinade chunks that will burn in the oven. Use your hands to rub the remaining marinade around the chicken. In addition, take the leftover marinade in the bowl and add it all to a small saucepan.

Take your two heavier pans and cover the bottoms of them with aluminum foil. Add them into a 400 F oven for 10 minutes, removing them again when they’re needed in a later step.

Season both sides of the chicken in salt and pepper to taste.

Place the other two pans on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add in a high heat neutral oil to each, and allow it to shimmer. Add the chickens to the pans, skin-side down, trying your best to get the bottom in contact with the pan. Take the pans from the oven and place them on top of each chicken, pressing them into place so they’re getting good contact.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Check that the skin has a good color on the bottom, then continue cooking with the weight pans for about 12 minutes.

Transfer the pan stacks (be careful) into the oven and bake the chicken for 20 minutes.

Remove the pan stacks from the oven and take off the weight pans (onto a heat-safe surface). Flip over the chickens in the pans to be skin-side up. Baste each chicken with the liquid in the pan and cook in the oven for another 15 minutes or so (want 165 F in the breasts), basting again every 5 minutes or so.

Remove the chickens from the oven and place the marinade saucepan over medium heat. Add the cooking juices from the chicken pans and allow it to cook over heat for 4-5 minutes. Turn off the heat and mix in the butter and a little lemon juice until emulsified.

Paint some of the sauce onto each chicken and throw the pans back into the oven for another 10 minutes to crisp up the skin.

Remove the pans from the oven and transfer the chickens to a wire rack. Allow them to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving. If the sauce starts to split, add a little bit of water over medium heat and cook until emulsified again.

Serve the chicken with the sauce and enjoy!

Notes

A heavily spiced and marinated African chicken recipe believed to originate from Mozambique. The name “Peri-Peri” comes from the chili pepper traditionally used in this dish. The English name is “African Bird’s Eye Chili”, but it can be hard to find sold fresh within the US unless you have an African market in your area. This recipe uses fresh Fresno chilis instead, but feel free to use any red spicy chili available to you and scale the quantities to taste. The marinade and sauce here is the star, a nice balance of acidity, heat, and freshness. This recipe features a particular way of cooking chicken that starts by searing in a pan on the stovetop, followed by baking on that same pan. This results in a heavily browned and crisp skin side that’s best eaten right away.