In keeping with our nice and easy approach to Mother’s Day, this recipe is a great alternative to your average Sunday roast. But no less delicious.
Spatchcocked chicken is essentially prepped by removing the backbone and wishbone, and then the bird is flattened so that it cooks fast and evenly. Our team at Hepburns can easily do this for you, so all you have to worry about is looking after the sides and garnish.
The introduction of the lentils and dressing is a tweak on a classic recipe from Gascony, where ordinarily poussin or coquelet is prepared in the same way.
However, for Mother’s Day, you really don’t want to scrimp on things. So we’ve gone large with a proper tasty chicken, which we source from Yorkshire.
Try this and brownie points with Mum are guaranteed!
Serves 4-6 people
First heat your oven to 180°C and season the spatchcock chicken generously on both sides with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Place onto a tray with a griddle to catch any juices and then roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes. To check for doneness, piece the thigh and clear juice should run through. Rest in a warm spot for 10 minutes before carving.
Whilst the chicken is cooking, prep the lentils by putting them into a saucepan and cover with 600ml water. Bring to the boil and then simmer and leave to cook for 30-35 minutes. They should have just a little bit of bite still once done. Drain and put to one side.
To prepare the diced onion, carrot, leek and garlic, place a large pan on the hob over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Tip the vegetables in, along with a pinch of salt, and once they start sizzling turn the heat down to low. Add the bay leaf to the mix and gently sweat everything down for 30 minutes so that all the vegetables become soft and caramelised. Once down, keep warm.
To make the dressing, place the red wine vinegar, caster sugar and tarragon stalks into a small saucepan and place over a high heat on the hob. Stir and reduce until you have roughly 2 tsp left. In another pan, add 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil and place on a medium heat and then add the chopped garlic.
When it begins to sizzle, add the tomatoes and the chopped tarragon leaves and cook through for another 2 minutes or so – you don’t want to over do it here. To finish the dressing, strain and add the reduced vinegar and virgin oil over and check for seasoning.
When ready to serve, add the cooked lentils into the large pan with the caramelised vegetables and any of the chicken juice for extra flavour and gently warm through on the hob.
Then pour the lentils on a serving platter and place the roast spatchcock chicken on top and finish with a good amount of the tomato and tarragon dressing – putting any leftover dressing into a serving bowl.
Bring to the table to tremendous applause and carve and serve each plate with a handsome piece of chicken and a good amount of lentils.
NB: Also, you could grab a tub of Hepburns Chicken Gravy to warm up and add to proceedings.
It’s all about those brownie points remember!