Peri Peri Chicken
Peri Peri chicken Nando's style - zesty lemon, smoky paprika, fiery chillies. Marinate & roast chicken, then savour juicy perfection 🌶️🍗
Servings: 4 people
Equipment
- Mini food processor/or stick blender
- Rasp-style grater (such as ‘Microplane’) or use the small holes of a box grater to zest the lemons
- Baking dish, roughly 30cm x 20cm.
Ingredients
- 5 red cayenne chillies (note)
- Two lemons (note)
- 3 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
- 4 Tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
- 6 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 8 chicken thighs/’chops’ (skin on and bone in)
Instructions
- Prepare Chillies – Cut off the green stem. Cut chillies in half along their length. Use a teaspoon to scoop out and discard the seeds. Roughly chop the chillies and add to your food processor.5 red cayenne chillies
- Lemons – zest, then juice the lemons. Add to the chillies.Two lemons
- Paprika, Oregano, Oil & Salt – add these to the chillies and lemon. Blend until smooth.3 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika4 Tablespoons fresh oregano leaves6 Tablespoons olive oil1 ½ teaspoons salt
- Marinade Chicken - trim any excess fat ‘skirt’ from the chicken and place in a bowl. Tip over the marinade and coat the chicken pieces all over. Try to keep the skin in place. Leave to marinade for up 4 hours while you preheat the oven. If you’re in a rush, a short marinade while you preheat the oven is still worth doing.8 chicken thighs/’chops’
- Preheat Oven – 200°C
- Dry Chicken Skin - when ready to cook, lift the chicken out of the marinade and place in the baking dish skin side up. Lay a few layers of paper towel over the top of the chicken and pat dry. Pour any extra marinade left in the bowl around the outside (not on top of) the chicken pieces
- Bake - cook (uncovered) for around 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. To check doneness, make a slit with a sharp knife through the thickest part of the largest chicken thigh. Press down nearby with the blade, and ensure that the juices running out are clear, not pink. When cooked, transfer the chicken pieces to a wooden board/serving platter to rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve – with extra sauce drizzled over.
Notes
Cayenne Chillies - these are the long, relatively mild chilies commonly found in most supermarkets. Five deseeded chillies provide a very subtle hum of heat. Include some/all the seeds if you like more spice.
Lemons - If your lemons aren’t organic or labelled as ‘unwaxed’, it’s a good idea to wash the skins first.