Roasted Chicken with Sumac, Za’atar and Lemon
From Ottolenghi’s “The Cookbook”
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken, divided into quarters: breast and wings, leg and thigh.
- 2 red onions, thinly sliced.
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed.
- 4 tbs olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 ½ tsp ground allspice (pimento)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp sumac
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 200ml chicken stock or water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp za’atar
- 20g unsalted butter
- 50g pine nuts
- 4 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Tip:
You can replace the whole chicken with Grassland Poultry thigh cutlets or any other cut you may have
Method
In a large bowl, mix the chicken with the onions, garlic, olive oil, spices, lemon, stock or water, salt and pepper. Leave in the fridge to marinate for a few hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Transfer the chicken and its marinade to a baking tray large enough to accommodate all the chicken pieces lying flat and spaced apart. They should be skin-side up. Sprinkle the za’atar over the chicken and onions and put the try in the oven. Roast for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is coloured and just cooked.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the pine nuts and a pinch of salt and cook over a moderate heat, stirring constantly, until they turn golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb the fat.
Transfer the not chicken and onions to a serving plate and finish with the chopped parsley, pine nuts and drizzle of the olive oil. You can sprinkle more sumac and za’atar if you like.
