Spring Chicken with Crispy Leeks

 

This is a chicken that is mostly about the leeks, but without the chicken, the leeks would be nothing, so I guess it’s an equal partnership. While you could just do the chicken and leeks alone, serving it with the garlicky aioli, leek salsa verde (made from the tops of the leeks) and an assortment of whatever vegetable you can find makes this whole thing feel like a true event. While there are a million ways to roast a chicken, I find the “425° for about an hour” technique produces the best version for this specific occasion. Golden brown skin, crispy bits (wingtips, the butt) of chicken, and leeks that are both braised and tender, crunchy and crackly.

YIELD — 2–4 servings

 

Ingredients

For the chicken and salsa verde:

  • 1 3 ½ – 4lb. Chicken

  • Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper

  • ¼ cup/52 grams olive oil, plus more for drizzling

  • 1 large leek (or 2 smaller leeks)

  • ½ lemon, optional (see instructions for alternatives)

  • ½ bunch chives, finely chopped

  • 1 cup parsley, tender leaves and stems, finely chopped

  • 4 stalks green garlic, finely chopped (or 2 cloves garlic, finely grated)

  • 4 anchovy fillets or 2 tablespoons capers, finely chopped

For the aioli and serving:

  • 1 large egg yolk

  • 1 teaspoon/5 grams dijon mustard

  • 1-2 garlic cloves, finely grated

  • White distilled vinegar, as needed

  • Kosher salt

  • ¾ cup/156 grams neutral oil, such as grapeseed, canola, vegetable

  • ¼ cup/52 grams olive oil

  • Remaining tin of anchovies

  • Small potatoes, boiled till tender

  • Asparagus or green beans, blanched till al dente

  • Radishes, snap peas, crunchy lettuces or sliced fennel, raw

Directions

For the chicken and salsa verde:

1. Preheat your oven to 425°. Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet or a large (10–12”) cast-iron skillet. Pat the bird dry with paper towels and season with salt and lots of black pepper. You can stuff the cavity with a halved lemon, a quartered onion, a halved head of garlic, some rogue sprigs of herbs— but if you don’t have any of those things to spare, I wouldn’t sweat it. Tie (or don’t tie) your chicken legs together in a casual truss.

2. Remove the darkest green part of the leek (set aside, we’re going to eat it), and quarter the remaining white/light green part lengthwise and give it a rinse (if using small/medium leeks, just halve them lengthwise). Lay the leeks beside the chicken and drizzle the whole thing (leeks, chicken) with a little olive oil. Season the leeks with some salt and pepper, too.

3. Place this into the oven (middle rack, if you can), and don’t look at it for at least 35 minutes. No peeking, no touching, no basting, no turning, no fussing.

4. After 35 minutes, you can peek– it should not be “there” yet. You can baste or rotate the sheet pan if you like, but keep roasting another 20–25 minutes. You’re looking for deeply browned chicken skin, and a combination of totally tender, almost silky braised leeks coupled with crispy, dark, frizzled leeks. I like mine almost burnt, zero regrets, and if you are nervous about them getting a little dark before the chicken is ready, well, maybe this is not the chicken dish for you.

5. While the chicken is roasting and the leeks are almost burning, make use of the other part of the leek, the part we typically throw away (unless you’re making this soup again). Finely chop the dark green part of the leek and place it in a small bowl. Add finely chopped chives, parsley, finely chopped anchovies and season with salt and pepper. Season with a splash of vinegar or fresh lemon juice, then add enough olive oil to make it saucy and spoonable. This should taste onion-y, briny, bright, and extremely GREEN. Let it sit while your chicken finishes roasting– it gets better with time.

For the aioli and serving:

6. Combine oils together in a bowl or measuring cup with a spout. Place egg yolk, mustard and garlic in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in a few teaspoons of oil. Become more confident and whisk a little bit more oil, stopping to make sure it’s fully emulsified each time. Thin it out with a little white distilled vinegar if it becomes too thick. Whisk in more oil until it’s all been added. Season with salt, vinegar, and more garlic, if you think it needs it.

7. When it’s time to eat, place all your vegetables (the blanched the boiled, the raw the sliced) onto a large plate. If you opened a tin of anchovies for the sauce, place the tin on or next to the plate, too.

8. Tip the rested chicken slightly on the sheet pan or in the cast iron/dish you roasted it in to catch all the juices so they don’t run all over your cutting board. Slice the legs away from the body of the bird (to catch more juices) then transfer the chicken to a cutting board to carve, then transfer the chicken to a large plate. Top with your fantastic leeks, then spoon any chicken drippings/juice over the whole thing (don’t worry about de-crisping the chicken skin, it wasn’t that crispy to begin with).

9. Serve with your leek salsa verde, aioli, and that celebration of spring (your vegetables). Dip the chicken into both sauces, followed by a perfect little boiled potato. Place an anchovy on a radish, dip that in the aioli. Snack on a lettuce. Drag a slice of chicken through the juices that have pooled on the bottom of the plate. Have a sip of wine, wish you had an artichoke, feel full and happy and grateful for all the things you have, but today, especially for spring and for that chicken.

chicken, newsletterAlison RomanNewsletterComment