This is my own version of the famous Nando's piri-piri chicken, which is easy, quick, tasty, and fairly healthy too. I served the chicken in pitta breads with lettuce, tomato and mayo, and then cold in sandwiches the next day, but it would also do well as a main with vegetables or rice. I was lucky enough to attend a wedding in Portugal, where I acquired a little bottle of piri-piri sauce (which resembles Tabasco), but if you don't have any, this dish will work just as well.
Ingredients
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1 red pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
- 1 tablespoon of white vermouth
- 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoons of smoked hot paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- A few drops of piri-piri sauce (if you have it)
Method
- Make the marinade: take a bowl large enough for all the chicken, and in it mix the oil, tomato purée, vermouth, spices, salt and pepper. Add a few drops of piri-piri sauce if you have it.
- Crush the garlic and mix this with the rest of the marinade.
- Cut the lemons in half, and squeeze the juice of three halves into the marinade. If you're inattentive like me, spend the next ten minutes fishing lemon seeds out of the mix. Reserve the remaining half lemon for later.
- Cut the pepper into small dice and add these to the marinade.
- Now for the chicken. Cut each breast in half across the width, and add the six pieces to the marinade. Get your hands in there and mix to make sure the meat is well covered. Then set aside for at least half an hour, or overnight in the fridge.
- When you're ready to eat, heat the oven to 200°C.
- Take a lasagne dish or large casserole dish and put the chicken into it, with its marinade. Make sure the chicken pieces are in an even layer, but not too spread out. Similarly, make sure the pieces of pepper are close to the chicken, so that they add their juice to the meat while cooking, and also don't burn.
- Slice the remaining half lemon thinly, and then cut each slice in half. Lay these slices over the chicken.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. At the end of that time it will smell fantastic, and look slightly blackened in places. The lemon will be tangy and chewy, and the chicken tender and full of flavour.
- Slice the chicken pieces to serve, and season with some more piri-piri sauce if you like. Enjoy!
