Slow Roasted Paprika Lemon Chicken

Ingrediente

1 (3½- to 4-pound) chicken, spatchcocked

2 tablespoons (6g) fennel seed

1 tablespoon (9g) hot paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons (6g) smoked paprika

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

¼ cup (56g) olive oil

2 lemons, quartered

Instrucțiuni

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Using paper towels, pat the chicken dry. Place the chicken, breast-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet (you can also use a very large 10- to 12-inch ovenproof skillet).

Grind the fennel seed in a spice mill or mortar and pestle (alternatively, chop it with a knife or smash it in a ziplock bag with a heavy skillet) and place it in a bowl with the hot paprika, salt, smoked paprika, pepper, garlic, and olive oil, and smear this all over the bird. Skin side, underside, in every nook and cranny possible. Really get in there with that rub. Rub any of the leftover mixture onto the quartered lemons and scatter them around the chicken.

Roast the chicken until it is completely tender and cooked through and the lemons are soft and jammy (perfect for squeezing), 1 to 1½ hours. You don’t need to do much to it once it’s in the oven, but sometimes I’ll use a spoon or pastry brush to baste the chicken with all the garlicky business that has dripped off along with the chicken fat.

The drippings from this particular chicken are truly magnificent. Fiery orange, deeply savory, and just the most delicious thing on the planet. Do not waste these drippings. Instead, drizzle them over the chicken once it’s carved, use them to crisp up smashed potatoes (this page), drag crusty bread through them, or toss with vegetables before a quick roasting to serve alongside the chicken.

Note

Cook times are highly temperamental and dependent on chicken weight and size as well as oven size and convection strength. For more consistent results, remove the chicken from the oven when a thermometer at the innermost part of the breast reads 140-150° (depending on doneness preference) and allowing the chicken to rest for ~15 minutes before carving. Final temps after momentum cooking stalls will be above 155°.