Roast Chicken with Pea Puree & Olive Chimichurri Sauce

I actually made this recipe a year ago, but with lamb rather than roast chicken. At the time, I encrusted the lamb with olives, capers, anchovies, and panko. You can see that this recipe, one year later, turned out quite differently.

Why am I telling you this? Because it shows that a lot of iterations and time go into each recipe. When you find a recipe online, it is only reflecting the final, perfected version. But it leaves out the imperfections that led to its success.

It took me trying to roast an encrusted lamb before I came to this winning roast chicken recipe. While at the time I was frustrated, I now know that was just part of the creative process.

Roast Chicken with Pea Puree & Olive Chimichurri Sauce

I remember thinking, “Lamb…this would go great with peas. And mint! This is going to be a good one.” In playing around, I decided to create a puree of green olives, capers, anchovies, garlic, lemon zest, mint, and other herbs and use it as a base before encrusting the whole chop in panko mixed with mint. I was sure this would be a winning combination but it ended up…muddy.

That may be an unusual word for describing food, but that’s what happened to the lamb when I mixed it with briny ingredients. Plus the panko just made the dish heavy and soggy…not what I wanted for spring flavors!

So I sat on the recipe for a year, uninspired. When I was creating my editorial calendar a few months ago, I saw it sitting in my backlog. Curious, I opened it up to see what went wrong.

It took a bit, but I realized all my aforementioned mistakes. There was too much going on with the capers, anchovies, and olives, so I paired it down to just the olives. I was also dreading purchasing and cooking lamb, so I decided to sub it with kitchen. I also wasn’t loving my original pea puree, because I pureed both the cauliflower and peas, then added heavy cream and lemon juice. The acid with the dairy curdled and you could tell in the puree.

All of these were mistakes I could have passed on by just pressing publish, but I knew I was better than that. So I decided to simplify the recipe and see how it turned out. And I’m so happy I did. What I ended up with was a much more satisfying, zingy dish perfect for Sunday dinner with family.

What does this roast chicken recipe taste like?

Balanced. The fatiness from the roast chicken is cut by the salty and acidic olive chimichurri sauce. Paired with the sweet peas and umami from the browned cauliflower, you get a perfectly balanced bite with every forkful!

The Recipe

Serves 8 | Active 40 minutes | 60 minutes total

Ingredients:

2, 4-4.5 lb whole chickens, giblets removed & reserved for another use
1 stick butter
5 tsp salt
black pepper from a mill
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
1/2 C + 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a medium shallot, roughly chopped (~1/4 C)
3 cloves garlic, smashed and skin removed
1/4 C red wine vinegar
1/2 C green olive (preferably Castelvetrano)
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 C packed cilantro
1/2 C packed parsley
1 bag frozen peas
1 Tbsp. parmesan

Directions:

Step 1

Heat the oven to 450°F. Pat the chickens dry. Rub liberally with 6 Tbsp. of butter, softened. Season with 3.5 tsp. of salt & ~15 grinds of black pepper per side. Tie legs together with twine and roast on bottom rack for ~60 min, breast side up.

Step 2

At ~30 min left on the chicken, turn the heat down to 400°F. Toss the cauliflower florets with the extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt, and ~10 grounds of pepper. Spread evenly on a cookie cooling rack placed on a foiled baking sheet. This allows air to circulate and creates a better browning. Add it to the oven and cook until softened and browned in spots, ~30 minutes.

Step 3

Remove the cauliflower and chicken from the oven. Once the meat registers 165°F, remove from the oven and let rest.

Step 4

Meanwhile, make the chimichurri. Add 1 small garlic clove and the shallot to the red wine vinegar and steep for 10 min to remove the bite. Drain and add them to the food processor. Pulse until chopped.

Step 5

Add the green olives, lemon zest, and 1/4 tsp. salt to the food processor. Pulse until diced. Add the cilantro and parsley, pulsing again until everything is finely diced. With motor running, add 1/2 C extra virgin olive oil until the chimichurri is a wet, pesto-like consistency. Taste and season as necessary.

Step 6

Meanwhile, bring water to a boil. Once boiling, add 1/2 tsp. salt, the remaining 2 garlic cloves, and the frozen peas. Boil until peas begin to float, about 5 minutes. Reserve 1 C of the cooking water, then drain the peas. Run under cold water and then remove the garlic.

Step 7

Add the peas to the (cleaned!) food processor and turn on the motor. With the motor running, add the reserved water until it creates a smooth consistency a bit thicker than a pea soup (you may not need all the water). Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. of butter (melted), 1/4 tsp. salt, and the Parmesan. Taste and season as necessary.

Step 8

Spread the pea puree on the bottom of plates and top with the roasted cauliflower. Top with chicken and drizzle with chimichurri. Serve and enjoy!

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Nutritional Facts Disclaimer: I am not a registered nutritionist and therefore these numbers are approximate. I researched the serving sizes and facts for each ingredient in this recipe (mostly using the manufacturer labels and this site), but slight variations in things like seasoning, garnishes, and substitutions can change the nutritional information. Use this information only as a general indication of your nutritional intake.