Roast Chicken with Chili and Basil : IHCC - Thank You Ottolenghi

"Oh, Ottolenghi", our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), and this will be the last week that we are cooking with Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes. We, at IHCC have been cooking from his recipes for six months now, and it has been an incredible six delicious months. I have discovered and learned to enjoy using ingredients like harissa and sumac, something that I have heard of before, but have only started to use them during our term with Ottolenghi. 

Ottolenghi has the knack of combining ingredients and spices that never fails to deliver, to sum it all, Ottolenghi is one fantastic outstanding chef. I will definitely "see him" again, during our Potluck themes in the months to come, and I believe, so will my friends at IHCC.

Today, I'm sharing one of Ottolenghi's chicken recipe and have done a roundup of all Ottolenghi's dishes that I've cooked from the last six months, since I cannot make up my mind which are my most favourites! 

Roast Chicken with Chili and Basil

The basil is only for garnishing and which I have completely forgotten, until after the meal! haha!

Chicken pieces are marinated in a mixture of Dijon mustard, sesame oil, sunflower oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, dried chili flakes, scallions, coarsely ground black pepper and salt to taste. Leave the chicken in the fridge, covered, for about 4 hours. A little touch of Asian which I find in this dish, with the usage of soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Remove chicken from the fridge about 20 minutes before roasting. Transfer chicken pieces to a roasting tray and bake for about 35-40 minutes until cooked through. Arrange chicken on serving plate, pour the roasting juices over and served garnished with fresh basil leaves. I just served it family-style with the whole roasting pan on the dining table! Haha! That was why I have forgotten about the basil!

Delicious! It is not spicy at all, perfect for the family. And the chili on the plate, yes, it's for me, and I finished the chili as well.

I served this roasted chicken with Tomato Rice (a delicious Tessa Kiros recipe, will be sharing in next post, here), and some greens. Another keeper recipe from Ottolenghi. 

Roast Chicken with Chili and Basil
(source from : here)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp dried chili flakes
3 scallions
2 chicken legs
2 chicken breasts
2-4 mild red chilies
8 basil leaves for garnish
seas salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a bowl, whisk the oils, mustard, soy sauce, vinegar and chili flakes. Season with a little salt and some pepper.

Roughly chop the scallions and add them to the sauce with the chicken and the whole chilies. With your hands, rub the chicken well with marinade and keep refrigerated for 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the chicken in a roasting tray and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.

Arrange the chicken on a serving plate, place the chilies on top and pour the juices on. Garnish with basil.

Roundup of all Ottolenghi's dishes 

This post is linked to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). 

We are moving on from Mediterranean to Australia,  I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) will be starting with the next featured chef, Donna Hay, starting from October. For more details about joining in, please click here.