Jamie's Recipes

Chicken Caesar salad

Serving: 4 to 6
Ingredients:
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • A few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 x 1.4kg free-range chicken
  • 1 loaf of ciabatta, ripped into 2cm chunks
  • 3 strips of pancetta
  • 2 anchovy fillets in oil
  • 1 lemon
  • A large handful of grated Parmesan (roughly 50g)
  • 4 tablespoons of creme fraiche
  • 140g of mixed salad leaves such as radicchio, little gem and rocket
Method:

This is a super-easy way to roast your chicken and makes for a fantastic quick lunch. Fire up the oven an hour or so before you’re ready to cook. When the temperature has reached 200°C (check with your thermometer) and the smoke and flames have died down, you can start cooking. Always keep an eye on the fire and top up the heat source if you need to.

Bash one of the garlic cloves with a good pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar until creamy, then bash in the rosemary leaves, add a pinch of pepper and enough oil to make a paste. Rub the paste all over the chicken, place it on a roasting tray, then slide it into the hot oven and roast for about 20 minutes, checking on it occasionally. After 20 minutes, add the ciabatta to the tray and layer the pancetta on top of the chicken. Continue to roast for further 10-15 minutes, or until the ciabatta and pancetta are crispy and the chicken is cooked through so its juices run clear. Turn the chicken during cooking to make sure it cooks evenly and cover with foil if it starts to get too brown.

Meanwhile, to make the dressing, bash the anchovies in a pestle and mortar, then grate in half the remaining garlic clove and the lemon zest (reserve the lemon). Add the Parmesan and crème fraÎche and season with pepper. Loosen with a few good lugs of oil and a squeeze of lemon juice until you have a creamy consistency.

Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes, then shred the meat using forks. Get rid of the bones and any gnarly bits, then toss the shredded chicken meat with the toasted ciabatta, salad leaves and creamy dressing.