Spatchcocked Chicken With Herb Butter
Spatchcocking (also called butterflying) a chicken helps it to roast more evenly and much more quickly, giving you perfectly tender, juicy meat with golden skin. This one is slathered with herb butter, making it extra fragrant. (If you have any herb butter left over, freeze it, then use it on steaks or fish or roasted potatoes.) Pulling out a well-flavored compound butter is one of those cheffy moves that makes almost everything taste better.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- ¼cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), at room temperature
- 4garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
- 2teaspoons minced fresh parsley leaves
- 2teaspoons minced mixed fresh herbs — any mix of mint, oregano and marjoram
- 1 ½teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
- ½teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 ¾teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1teaspoon herbes de Provence
- ½teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ½teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1(3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken, spatchcocked and dried with paper towels (see Note)
- Lemon wedges, for garnish
Instructions
Step 1
In a medium bowl, mash together the butter, garlic, parsley, mixed herbs, thyme, rosemary, salt, herbes de Provence, lemon zest, white pepper and black pepper. Rub three-quarters of the mixture all over the chicken, including under the skin. (Reserve the remaining herb butter for serving.) Place the chicken, breast-up, on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate it, uncovered, for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.Step 2
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Roast chicken until it is just cooked through (the meat will no longer be pink and the juices will run clear; an instant read thermometer inserted into the thigh will read 165 degrees), 40 to 55 minutes. Let the chicken rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before carving. Serve it topped with the reserved herb butter and lemon wedges.