Roasting chickens is my favorite winter sport. I wake up most Sunday mornings to rinse the bird that has spent the night in a salt and sugar brine before patting it dry for a return to the fridge to chill, uncovered for a few hours (an air-chilled bird begets crispy skin).
My roasting technique involves seasoning the bird aggressively with salt & pepper, stuffing the cavity with aromatics and basting regularly with melted butter. Inspired by butter a few weeks back, I decided to up the ante by using Bagna Cauda as the basting component for roasted chicken.
Bagna Cauda (literally a "hot bath") is one of my favorite Italian starters. It's basically a hot mix of butter and extra virgin olive oil flavored with lots of garlic and anchovy. Traditionally, it's served in a warmed bowl as a dipping sauce for raw veggies and bread. I thought it would, as a basting component, ratchet up my roasted chicken.
It did! The flavor was unique and satisfying; the anchovy added a tawny glaze.
Give it a try, and feel free to tinker with the portions of garlic and anchovy (I go heavy) and use the leftover Bagna Cauda as you see fit.
Happy Roasting!
Roast Chicken Bagna Cauda
4
servings20
minutes1
hourIngredients
1 4 lb. 1 whole chicken
six cloves six garlic (peeled, stemmed, minced)
1 stick 1 unsalted butter
1/2 cup 1/2 extra virgin olive oil
6 6 anchovy fillets (drained from oil or rinsed of salt)
salt & pepper (see note)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F.
- Season the chicken inside and out with salt & pepper.
- Truss the chicken with kitchen string.
- Put on a rack in an oven proof baking dish and add to the oven.
- While the chicken begins to roast, add the olive oil and minced garlic to a saucepan on the stovetop.
- Over very low heat (do not burn the garlic) warm the oil.
- When the oil is warm and the garlic is pale, add the anchovies (3-4 minutes).
- Allow the anchovies to breakdown, coaxing gently with a wooden spoon (2-3 minutes).
- Off the heat, add the butter and allow it to incorporate into the sauce.
- Baste the chicken with the Bagna Cauda every 15 minutes until it is done (the chicken should cook around 1 hour total).
- Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest, covered loosely in foil, for 15 minutes.
- Carve and serve.
- If desired, use the remaining Bagna Cauda as a sauce for the carved meat.
Notes
- Go easy on the salt when seasoning the bird as the anchovies are salty.
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