Green Goddess Roasted Spatchcock Chicken

Ready for a succulent, flavorful roast chicken with crispy skin that’s ready in less than an hour? You’ll need to marinate it for six hours or overnight in this green goddess recipe, but it cooks in just a half hour to 45 minutes. The recipe was created by Melissa Clark for the New York Times and calls for a chicken cut in half and roasted at 500 degrees F.  Rather than cut it in half, I spatchcocked it, which is easily done in five minutes if you’ve got a good sturdy knife or kitchen shears. Cut down one side of the backbone.

Then cut down the other side of the backbone, flip the chicken over and press down hard to flatten the breastbone. Place it in a pan (I used a disposable aluminum pan to make cleanup easy) and pour about 3/4 of the marinade all around the chicken. Save the rest of the marinade to serve with the chicken. The marinade is also delicious as a salad dressing or used as a sandwich spread (if you use yogurt rather than buttermilk). Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of six hours or overnight. 

When you’re ready to roast it, pour out the marinade, rinse out the pan and wipe all the marinade off the chicken. Then drizzle with some olive oil and place skin back in the pan side up. Roast the chicken at 500 degrees (F.) for a half hour to 45 minutes, until juices come out clear and the skin is crispy. Serve at once with the remaining green goddess dressing. 

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Green Goddess Roasted Spatchcock Chicken

Author: Ciao Chow Linda via Melissa Clark and The New York Times

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups buttermilk or plain yogurt
• 1 cup packed basil leaves (I used lemon balm and parsley)
• ¼ cup packed chives
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 anchovy fillets (optional, but highly recommended to use)
• 1 scallion, white and green parts
• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken, halved through the breast and back bones, patted dry with paper towels (I spatchcocked it – follow photos in blog post to show you how to do it – or ask your butcher to do it.)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Instructions

1. In a blender, purée buttermilk, herbs, garlic, anchovies, scallion, lime zest and juice, salt and pepper until smooth.
2. Put chicken halves (or the spatchcocked chicken) in a bowl or large heavy-duty resealable plastic bag and cover with three-quarters of the Green Goddess marinade.
3. (Save the rest to serve as a sauce.)
4. I used a disposable aluminum foil pan and roasted it in the same pan, after I drained out the marinade and washed the pan.
5. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
6. Heat oven to 500 degrees.
7. Remove chicken from the marinade, shaking off as much liquid as possible, and lay the halves (or the spatchcocked chicken) on a rimmed baking sheet.
8. (Discard the used marinade.)
9. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and drizzle with oil.
10. Roast until cooked through, about 30 to 45 minutes.
11. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving, with some of the reserved sauce if you like.

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