Rosemary Lemon Spatchcocked Chicken
If the word Spatchcocking sounds odd, it really just means it is a butterfliend Chicken! This recipe for Spatchcocked Chicken fuses Rosemary and lemon to form an epic seasoning paste that makes for the best grilled chicken of your life! Trust me!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized whole chicken that has been split at the backbone so it will lay flat for grilling (insides removed obviously, rinsed, etc). Make it easy on yourself and have the butcher split the backbone for you!
- 2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
- The ZEST of 2 lemons- this is really what makes it very fragrant!
- the juice of half a lemon you don't need much juice, mainly only the zest
- 3 large sprigs rosemary when adding to the food processor, remove the leaves from the woody stem
- 1 tblsp smoked sea salt if you don't have smoked sea salt, use regular sea salt NOT iodized - it is not the same- it will be too salty!
- 1 tblsp smoked fresh ground pepper if you don't have smoked pepper, use regular fresh ground pepper
- NOTES: I have made this recipe with preserved lemons before and it is amazing. You simply swap regular lemons for the preserved lemons. It adds much more lemon flavor than regular lemons. However it is not easy to make or find preserved lemons so I changed this recipe to using regular lemons instead. You can sometimes find preserved lemons at Trader Joes, they used to carry them and you can find them on amazon, then swap the lemon juice and zest for 1/4 cup preserved lemons in this recipe. The use of Preserved Lemons in this recipe make it even more over the top!
Instructions
Marinade:
- Combine all ingredients (except chicken) in a food processor until a fine seasoning paste/marinade is formed and it is a uniform consistency. Next, go ahead and take your hand (this is the un-fun part but it must be done) and separate the skin from the meat on the chicken so you can get the marinade underneath skin on all parts. Next, rub the marinade in under the chicken skin so you get marinade directly on the meat, reserving a small portion (about 2 tblsp worth) to rub on the outside of the chicken.
Prepare your grill:
- Prepare your grill for direct and indirect cooking with the temperature at 350 degrees. Oil your grill grates with canola oil so the meat will not stick. Cook the chicken on indirect for about 20 minutes, flipping once in the process. Finish the final 10 minutes on direct heat (flipping once to get both sides) or until the internal temperature on the breast meat has reached 165 degrees as read by an internal read thermometer. Use a brick covered in foil to the help the chicken lay flat and get it extra crispy on the outside (you can still grill without a brick but this will help to cook more evenly).
- After pulling the chicken off the grill, tent for 10 minutes so it has time to reabsorb its' juices. Serve with your favorite sides.