Roast chicken with chimichurri butter. (Photo: Tony Jackman)
My usual chimichurri sauce is made of parsley, oregano, garlic, chillies, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. This one is non traditional in that it includes spring onions/scallions.
Normally chimichurri is chopped, not blended. However, because this is for a butter, it’s best to blend it before mixing it with the butter.
Ingredients
1 medium whole chicken, giblets removed, rinsed and patted dry
½ cup (when chopped finely) of fresh parsley, without stems
¼ cup fresh oregano, picked from its stems and chopped
3 or 4 fat garlic cloves, peel and chopped
1 or 2 red chillies, chopped finely (with seeds or lose the seeds, as you like)
3 spring onions, sliced thinly, including some but not all of the green parts
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
½ tsp coarse salt
½ cup soft butter
Ground black pepper to taste
Method
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/chimichicken1.jpg "The bird, slathered with chimichurri butter, ready for the oven. (Photo: Tony Jackman)")
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend. Mix with the butter.
Salt the chicken well inside the cavity and all over the skin. Using a silicone spatula, carefully spoon some of the butter under the skin of both breasts. You’ll have to use your (clean) hands to slather most of the rest of the butter all over the skin of the bird, but keep about a quarter of it aside for use later.
Roast in a preheated 240℃ oven for 30 minutes. Turn the heat down to 200℃ and roast for a further hour.
About 15 minutes before it’s cooked, remove from the oven and smear the remaining chimichurri butter over it. Once cooked, allow it to rest in the turned-off oven for 15 minutes.
Note: I cooked them on a bed of quartered potatoes and onions. That's optional if you'd like to. DM/TGIFood
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