Pollo agrodolce (aka sweet-and-sour meets peri-peri roast chicken)

October 6, 2023

Serve this chicken with chips and greens – and plenty of napkins!William Meppem

Time:1-2 hoursServes:4-6

This is a bit of a cross-pollination of ideas riffing both on peri-peri sauce and the sweet-and-sour balance of Sicilian agrodolce. The charring of the sauce and a good hot roasting gives it a wonderful, lip-smacking, barbecue-like flavour. Take care to properly char the vegetables and don’t skip searing the bird first: it both reduces the roasting time and generates maximum caramelised flavour from the skin. Serve with chips and greens – and plenty of napkins!

Ingredients

1.6kg whole chicken
salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
1½ tsp smoked sweet paprika
1 green capsicum, flesh cut off in cheeks
3 long green chillies
1 brown onion, peeled and cut into thick rings
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1cm slice of ginger
80ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
120ml white wine vinegar
10 pickled, hot feferoni chillies
2 tbsp brined capers
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp dried Greek oregano
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp chilli powder
zest of ½ lemon
juice of 1 lemon, to serve

Method

Step 1
Cut the backbone out of the chicken and flatten on a board. Slash the drumsticks and thighs along the bone to ensure even cooking. Season generously with salt and rub with the paprika.
Step 2
Using a frying pan or griddle pan placed over high heat, char the capsicum, green chilli, onion, garlic and ginger until blackened all over (about 10 minutes). Then slice roughly.
Step 3
Heat a good splash of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Sear the chicken, skin-side down, for 20 minutes.
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 240C fan-forced (260C conventional).
Step 5
Add 80ml oil and the charred vegetable mix to a saucepan and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar, pickled chillies, capers, sugar, oregano, fennel and chilli powder, along with 2 teaspoons of salt and about 20 grinds of pepper; simmer for 8 minutes. Once cooked, blend with the lemon zest until smooth.
Step 6
Place the chicken on a lined tray and smother it in the agrodolce sauce. Roast for 25 minutes, skin-side up, then turn the grill on for about 3 minutes to blacken a little.
Step 7
Remove from the oven, squeeze over the lemon juice and rest for about 10 minutes before carving, then serve.