Chicken With Green Olives, Tomato and Parsley
260 days ago
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This Chicken with Green Olives, Tomato and Parsley recipe was conceived after I saw something similar in a magazine. I took the basics of that recipe, but made it a bit healthier and stress-free. Consider it a twist on roasted chicken.
Spatchcock the Chicken
One of the tweaks I made is to spatchcock the chicken for cooking. I used Super Shears to cut the backbone out of a whole chicken, flipped it over and pressed down to make it lay flat, breast-side up. Doing this makes the chicken cook faster and results in juicier meat.
Take a look at Cutco’s simple How to Spatchcock a Chicken tutorial for a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
Make the Sauce
After the chicken is cooked it is topped with a tangy, citrusy and somewhat earthy sauce made from tomatoes, olives, garlic and herbs. It adds layers of flavor, complementing the roasted chicken perfectly.
For halving the grape tomatoes give the Santoku-Style Cheese Knife a try. Its sharp Micro Double-D™ edge glides through them, making a clean cut. What I really like about it is the size. It’s just the right length for grape tomatoes.
A key to this sauce’s success is to lightly salt the tomatoes before you mix them in with the other sauce ingredients. This allows them to release a bit of their juice.
To mince the garlic, chop the parsley and julienne the basil with the 7-5/8" Petite Chef knife. For the basil, you’ll actually want to do a chiffonade cut where you stack the leaves up, roll them up like a cigar and thinly slice crosswise.
Serving the Roasted Chicken
When the chicken is done, let the meat rest for a few minutes before cutting to allow the juices to redistribute. Since the chicken is spatchcocked, carving it is easy, use a shorter carving knife to slice it. Cutco’s 6-3/4" Petite Carver is a good length for getting smooth, even slices.
I think you’ll really enjoy this Chicken with Green Olives, Tomato and Parsley recipe. To serve it, portion the chicken out on a platter and pour the sauce over the top. As you eat it, scoop up a little bit of everything for the perfect bite.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 roasting chicken, about 5 pounds
- 1 cup white wine or chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
For the sauce
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups green olives, pitted
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 handful fresh basil, chiffonade
Directions
- Heat oven to 425 F convection or 450 F traditional.
- Cut backbone from the chicken and discard (spatchcock). Open the whole chicken to lay flat breast-side up. Place in a pan large enough to hold the flattened chicken. Pour wine or stock around chicken.
- Mix olive oil with salt and pepper and brush over the chicken. Roast until golden brown, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your oven.
- Prepare sauce: Sprinkle salt over cut tomatoes to draw juice out for the sauce. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix together. Set aside while chicken cooks.
To serve: Cut chicken into portions and place on serving platter. Top with sauce.
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