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Creamy Nduja Roast Chicken

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This creamy nduja roast chicken, served over crispy, schmaltzy sourdough slices, makes for an epic Sunday roast. It’s inspired by one of my favourite London restaurant dishes, Gold Notting Hill’s wood roasted chicken with nduja, tomatoes and parma ham.

  • Author: zenak
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes, plus dry-brining time
  • Yield: 4 hungry people 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 whole medium chicken
  • 400g sourdough, cut into 1-inch thick slices
  • 6 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 300g vine cherry tomatoes
  • extra-virgin olive oil
  • 50g nduja
  • 250ml chicken stock
  • 1 tsp sugar, optional
  • 100g mascarpone
  • small handful fresh basil leaves, roughly torn

Instructions

  1. Heat your oven to 220℃ / fan 200℃.
  2. Spatchcock the chicken – it’s easier than you think, I promise! Place the chicken on a chopping board, breast-side down, cavity facing you. Using kitchen shears or sharp scissors, cut down each side of the backbone and remove it (you can save it for stock). Open out the chicken, flip it over so it’s breast-side up and flatten it down using the heel of your hand. Alternatively, you can ask your butcher to spatchcock the chicken for you.
  3. Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. If you have time, let it sit uncovered overnight in the fridge, on a wire rack set in a large baking tray. This is what’s known as dry brining. It ensures the chicken is seasoned all the way to the bone and makes it extra juicy. It also dries out the chicken skin, which facilitates browning and makes it extra crispy. If you don’t have time to dry brine the chicken overnight, dry brine it for at least 1 hour.
  4. Arrange the sourdough slices in an even layer in a large roasting tin (at least 35cm x 25cm), then top with the garlic cloves.
  5. Place the chicken on top, ensuring it covers the garlic cloves so they don’t burn. I recommend tucking the wings under the breasts to prevent them from burning. Brush the chicken with extra-virgin olive oil.
  6. Nestle in the tomatoes in and around the chicken, then drizzle them with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  7. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 65℃. If you don’t have a food thermometer, you can check if the chicken is done by piercing it between the leg and the rest of the body – the juices run clear not pink.
  8. Transfer the chicken to a chopping board to rest, then transfer the sourdough slices to a baking tray and pop them back into the oven to crisp up while the chicken rests. Note: one side of the bread should be nice and crisp; the other side should be nice and soft, almost custardy (like a bread pudding), packed with delicious chicken-y juices.
  9. Meanwhile, discard the tomato vines and heat a splash of extra-virgin olive oil in a small saucepan set over a medium heat.
  10. Add the nduja, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. As it heats, it will begin to melt. Once softened, add the jammy tomatoes and garlic from the roasting tin and cook for 1 minute, then add the stock and sugar (if using) and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  11. Stir in the mascarpone and simmer a further 1 to 2 minutes to bring the sauce together, then remove the saucepan from the heat.
  12. Carve the chicken then it’s time to assemble.
  13. Arrange the schmaltzy sourdough slices on a platter or large plate and top with the chicken. Spoon lots and lots of the creamy nduja sauce over the top and finish with the fresh basil. Note: if you have more sauce than you need, save it to have with pasta the next day.

Find it online: https://zenaskitchen.com/creamy-nduja-roast-chicken/

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