Roast spatchcock chicken mojo rojo

Ingredients

• 2 large plum tomatoes
• 2 red peppers, cut in half and deseeded
• 2 red chillies, cut in half and deseeded
• ½ red onion
• 4 garlic cloves, skin left on
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 10g basil
• 10g coriander
• 1 tbsp red wine or sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1.4-1.5kg whole chicken
• 500g waxy new potatoes
• fennel bulb
• lemon quarter
• 1 garlic bulb, halved
• 40g pitted black olives
• salad leaves, to serve

Wild garlic pesto

• 100g wild garlic
• 80g basil
• 75g parmesan
• 1 garlic clove
• juice of 1 lemon
• 60g pine nuts, walnuts or pistachios
• 160ml extra-virgin olive oil

Description

• STEP 1

  Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Toss the tomatoes, peppers, chillies, onion and garlic with 2 tbsp of olive oil and a good pinch of salt in a large roasting tray. Roast for 30-40 mins or until blistered, charred and soft. Leave to cool.

• STEP 2

  Meanwhile, toast the cumin seeds in a small frying pan over a low-medium heat for 2-3 mins or until fragrant, then remove and leave to cool. Roughly crush.

• STEP 3

  Squeeze out the flesh of the garlic cloves and discard the skins. Put the garlic, vegetables, cumin seeds, herbs, vinegar, tomato purée and 2 tbsp of olive oil in a blender and blitz until smooth. Remove the backbone from the chicken with scissors and flatten. Rub the marinade over the chicken and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 6 hrs.

• STEP 4

  Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Take out the chicken to bring to room temperature. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Halve the potatoes and cut the fennel into wedges. Put the potatoes and fennel into the pan with the lemon quarter and blanch, boiling for 3 mins. Transfer to a bowl and toss with the remaining oil and ½ tsp of sea salt. Arrange in a baking tray along with the garlic. Put the chicken on top of the vegetables, breast-side up.

• STEP 5

  Roast for 5 mins before reducing the heat to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and roasting for a further 50 mins. Take out and add the olives to the vegetables, mixing through. Return to the oven and increase the temperature to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Roast for another 10 mins, then remove and leave to rest for 25 mins.

• STEP 6

  While the chicken is cooking, make the pesto. Blend all the ingredients in a food blender until your desired consistency. Transfer the cooked chicken to a platter, arranging the vegetables around it, scatter around the salad leaves and drizzle the pesto around and on the chicken. Give a final squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and a twist of black pepper.