Diana Henry reminisces about the dishes that take her back to her childhood; this spicy chicken recipe brings memories of her time in Portugal.
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Ingredients
- 1 small red pepper
- 50ml olive oil
- 4 red chillies
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp dried oregano or chopped fresh oregano leaves
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- Juice 2 lemons
- 1/2 tsp caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
- 6 free-range, skin-on, bone-in chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs attached)
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Method
- Heat the oven 190°C/170°C fan/ gas 5. Halve and deseed the pepper, brush with a little of the oil, put in a tin and roast until soft (about 25 minutes). Peel the skin if it comes off easily; leave on if it doesn’t. Chop roughly, then crush in a pestle and mortar (see tip). Remove the pepper.
- Deseed the chillies, chop finely and put in the mortar with the garlic, oregano and chilli flakes. Pound to a paste, then add the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, remaining oil and crushed pepper.
- Put the chicken into a broad shallow dish and pour on most of the marinade. Turn to coat, cover with cling film and put in the fridge for 4 hours (or overnight ideally), turning a couple of times. Bring to room temperature before cooking.
- Heat the grill to high and arrange the chicken on the grill pan, skin-side up. Put the grill pan 10cm from the heat and grill for 12 minutes per side, reducing the heat to medium halfway through. Baste a few times with the juices or a little reserved marinade.
- Move the chicken another 10cm from the heat and grill for 5 minutes on each side. It should be cooked through (make sure there are no traces of pink), sizzling and golden.
- Serve immediately with a lettuce, cucumber and tomato salad and fried potatoes or coarse rustic bread.
Nutrition
- 199kcals Calories
- 11.2g (2.3g saturated) Fat
- 22g Protein
- 2g (1.8g sugars) Carbs
- 1.4g Fibre
- 0.7g Salt
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