By Clare de Boer
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- 5(239)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Surrounded by caramelized peppers, focaccia croutons — some crisp, some soaked with vinegar and chicken jus — and a bright basil aioli, this roast chicken dish is filled with delights that can only be earned through home-cooking and family-style eating. The deliciousness of this recipe relies on layering flavor and encouraging pan juices. Marinate the chicken and peppers generously, seasoning at various stages. Next, place some focaccia underneath the chicken to roast in schmaltz, and tuck smaller shards of the bread like a wreath around the edge of the dish, where they will crisp. If your dish runs dry during cooking, add a splash more vinegar. The basil aioli is crucial, though it doesn’t need to be homemade: Use the best store-bought version you can find and spruce it up with the basil, lemon and garlic paste.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1whole chicken (4 to 5 pounds)
- 1tablespoon dried oregano, preferably wild
- 1tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons flaky sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1cup good-quality red wine vinegar
- 3red bell peppers
- 2yellow bell peppers
- 1loaf focaccia (about 14 ounces), halved horizontally if thicker than 1 inch
- 2heads garlic, sliced in half widthwise through cloves
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1packed cup fresh basil leaves
- ¼cup lemon juice (from 2 lemons), plus more to taste
- 4cloves garlic, grated
- 2teaspoons flaky sea salt, plus more to taste
- 4egg yolks
- 2⅔cups extra-virgin olive oil
- Cold water, as needed
For the Chicken
For the Aioli
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Prepare the chicken: Set the chicken on a work surface breast-side down. Use shears or kitchen scissors to remove and discard the backbone, then cut through the wishbone and along one side of the breast plate to separate the chicken into two halves. In a 9-by-13-inch (or similar size) baking dish, season the two chicken halves with half the oregano, 1 tablespoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Drizzle with ¾ cup vinegar. Set aside, or cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours in advance.
Step
2
Blister the peppers: Turn the stovetop gas flames on high heat. Place the peppers directly over the flames, bottom-side down, and blister until the peppers are beginning to soften, rotating until the bottom, sides and tops are blackened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper bag, fold to seal and let cool, 5 minutes.
Step
3
Working over a bowl to collect the juices, peel each pepper, then tear into thick strips, discarding the stems and seeds as you separate the pepper. Season peppers with the remaining ¼ cup vinegar, 1½ teaspoons oregano and 1½ teaspoons salt, and toss to coat.
Step
4
Heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Step
5
Tear 2 pieces of focaccia (using about half the loaf) into portions that are slightly smaller than the 2 pieces of chicken. Rub both pieces of focaccia with the halved garlic and transfer to the baking dish. Place the marinated chicken on top of each piece of torn focaccia, skin side up. Tuck garlic heads and peppers around the chicken. Tear remaining focaccia into shards and tuck these around the chicken and peppers. Pour any juices from the peppers over the whole dish and drizzle the olive oil over everything.
Step
6
Bake until the chicken comes to 165 degrees, about 1 hour, depending on the size of your bird. If bread or peppers are getting burned before the chicken is fully cooked, cover those areas with aluminum foil and continue cooking.
Step
7
Meanwhile, prepare the aioli: Using a mortar and pestle, working in batches if necessary, mash basil with lemon juice, garlic and sea salt until it forms a paste. Either by hand in a bowl with a whisk or in a food processor, whirl egg yolks then begin adding the oil very slowly, whisking or blending until mixture is emulsified and thickened and all the oil has been added. (If mixture seems to thicken too much for the machine as you blend, pause to add a tablespoon of cold water.) Blend in basil paste until combined. Add additional cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to achieve a dippable texture; season to taste with salt and lemon. (Makes 3½ cups.) Use immediately or refrigerate until use, up to 3 days (see Tip).
Step
8
Once chicken is cooked through, remove from oven and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve directly from the baking dish, family-style, with aioli on the side.
Tip
- There are myriad uses for leftover aioli: Toss raw tomatoes in it, spread it thickly on baguette with tuna and boiled egg to make pain bagnat, dip stolen cold cuts or crudités from the fridge into it or use as you please.
Ratings
5
out of 5
239
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Cooking Notes
Anne
It is unclear on this recipe if you need to drain the marinade from the chicken before placing it on the focaccia for baking or not. Please advise.
Karen T
Absolutely scrumptious!I read the comments and made the following adjustments: I halved the vinegar and added the marinade with the chicken. I used 8 skin on chicken thighs. I allowed the chicken (placed on the focaccia) to roast with the garlic, alone, for the first 25 minutes, and then added the peppers, pepper juice and the bread that is tucked in around the chicken. It took another 25 minutes and was done. Perfect! No burnt bread or disintegrating peppers, and not too vinegary.
Hillary
I left all the vinegar in the pan and it was too much— it may be better to remove the chicken to a new pan and discard the vinegar under the chicken. I also cheated on the aioli— I made the basil paste in my food processor and added store bought mayo.
Anne
DavidWe do eat raw eggs in France because in France our eggs are not washed. Thus the natural coating called the bloom and is a natural barrier against bacteria is left intact.
Dd
This is a delicious recipe with some very obvious and fixable flaws. First of all use cut up chicken pieces not a whole split chicken and use peeled cloves of garlic not 2 split heads. The end result is this big casserole dish of chicken veggies and bread but you have to keep picking out arlic peels and the inedible parts of the chickens carcass. You dont need to necessarily go with totally boneless parts but you'd be way better off starting with a pack of cut up breasts, legs, etc.
Dd
Imagine yourself trying to work over a bowl with the whole roasted peppers. You're peeling them apart into strips saving the juice but separating the seeds. The seeds get everywhere and you're having to pick them off your pepper strips and out of the juice at the bottom of the bowl. If you must include this step, work over a bowl with a strainer sitting on top. Better yet, just buy jarred roasted red peppers. Then this dish is just marinating, assembly, baking and aioli
R
Made this yesterday and it was yummy. One note about the aoli, though: Be sure to add the lemon juice when you whisk the eggs with the oil, rather than after with the basil paste as indicated in the recipe instructions. Otherwise you could whisk or blend all day and the mixture will never, ever thicken.
angelique
No need to spatchco*ck a chicken. Use thighs or halved chickens. Spatchco*cking is a SKILL!
Amy
Delicious. I used all the vinegar, kept it in the pan, and added the peppers after 25 mins, with the torn bread. Store bought mayo and leftover pesto. It was terrific.
ingrid
Delicious but I added too much bread to the chicken. Next time I will just use half a loaf and tuck around the chicken and peppers. Agree to buy the roasted peppers rather than prepare myself. Pepper seeds kept popping up! Still very good flavor and I drained the marinade from the chicken after 2 hours and used chicken and
Tracy
Big hit for a 16-person dinner party! I used skin on, bone in thighs and baguettes. 1 inch slice under each thigh (toasted before). As I read the recipe, I did not include the meat marinade, only the liquid from the peppers and augmented with chicken stock any pan that looked too dry. Also used smashed garlic cloves. roasted peppers whoel @ 500. I added the peppers and their liquid 25 minutes into cooking and still had some texture to the peppers when done about 30 later.
Katherine
Made this on a weeknight with a few substitutions to make it faster! Used 6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, used pesto I had in the freezer mixed with store-bought mayo, everything else ingredients wise I did the same as the recipe. For cooking time, I followed commenters who suggested cooking the chicken for 25 mins before adding croutons and peppers, then another 25 mins. Delicious!
Colleen
Wow!! Made this with chicken legs (so only needed about 35 min in the oven) & homemade focaccia. Marinated the chicken in a separate bowl, then added the peppers to it, didn't pour the vinegar into the baking dish. Tossed the peppers & croutons half way through roasting, adding a bit more olive oil, and it was awesome! I also cheated and added basil to store-bought mayo and was happy with it. It is very intensely bready though, and would benefit from a bright salad on the side.
Carol
Delicious. Limited bread choices in suburban market during Covid, so substituted Boboli for focaccia. Bread slices under the chicken seemed headed toward a soggy end, so I upended them halfway through so they could crisp up. Crispy/chewy croutons soaked in drippings probably not on a heart-healthy diet, but they were so tasty! Charred quartered onions along with peppers; tucked in baby spinach leaves just before serving so didn’t need a salad. Vinegar helps cut greasy mouth feel.
Carol
Can substitute boboli for focaccia. Aioli is superfluous.
Julianne
Flavors were delicious. Bread was soggy and gross when placed under the chicken...really confused as to why this was recommended. I would not put bread underneath chicken ever again if I’m honest.
Helen
The chicken was amazing. But my aioli didn’t come together - and I followed the directions exactly. At the end I improvised and added some basil paste to store bought mayo - it was good! There was a lot of leftover bread, which I turned into a savory bread pudding a couple of days later. And that was DELISH.
Dd
Dont pour the marinade from the meat into the roasting pan, the focaccia will get way too soggy. Put a little oil on the bottom of the pan before you put the bread pieces in or they will stick. Top it all with only the liquid from the peppers, this seems to be the right amount of moisture to keep the bread somewhat crunchy in spots.
Dd
Imagine yourself trying to work over a bowl with the whole roasted peppers. You're peeling them apart into strips saving the juice but separating the seeds. The seeds get everywhere and you're having to pick them off your pepper strips and out of the juice at the bottom of the bowl. If you must include this step, work over a bowl with a strainer sitting on top. Better yet, just buy jarred roasted red peppers. Then this dish is just marinating, assembly, baking and aioli
Dd
This is a delicious recipe with some very obvious and fixable flaws. First of all use cut up chicken pieces not a whole split chicken and use peeled cloves of garlic not 2 split heads. The end result is this big casserole dish of chicken veggies and bread but you have to keep picking out arlic peels and the inedible parts of the chickens carcass. You dont need to necessarily go with totally boneless parts but you'd be way better off starting with a pack of cut up breasts, legs, etc.
angelique
No need to spatchco*ck a chicken. Use thighs or halved chickens. Spatchco*cking is a SKILL!
Golem18
I haven't made this although in reading the recipe it reminded me of a similar Italian dish of chicken and peppers that included sausage and onions. Thinking about it . . . .
angelique
Have made sausage, chicken with peppers, onions, garlic and potatoes forever. Would be fun to substitute foccacio for potatoes and add aioli!
Jeannette
Loved the chicken, peppers, garlic and the bread on top. The bread on the bottom was soggy, goopy and inedible. Anyone else have this issue? I just simply didn’t serve it/eat it, but next time I might forego the bread on the bottom unless there are other suggestions.
Marcia
We baked the focaccia for 15 minutes before putting it under the chicken. The result was a delicious mixture of crispy and mushy bread that everyone loved
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