Paying tribute to a Nandos classic. This is my take on the butterfly chicken burger.
Notes
Adjust the spice to taste! If you don’t want to overdo, start small and add more chillies as you blend.
If you feel like the sauce is too sharp, add a little more sugar.
Remember salt is your friend! Sounds obvious but salt rounds all the flavours of the sauce together so season with that in mind.
You’ll end up with about 600ml of sauce. Store the leftovers in a jar in the fridge if you have any.
I recommend serving with my Portuguese rolls but ciabatta gives similar results if you’re not confident with bread making.
Searing the chicken on a high heat followed by oven baking gives caramelisation whilst making sure the chicken is properly cooked.
I eyeballed the perinaise so use a 50/50 ratio.
If you need any further help, or have any questions, you can message me on my Instagram @bonniedoesfood.
Ingredients:
(Makes 4 burgers)
Peri Peri sauce:
3 small red peppers, roughly sliced
1 small red onion, roughly sliced
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp olive oil, for roasting
100ml cider vinegar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp sugar
2-5 African birds eye chillies (I used 3, adjust to your taste.)
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp ground cayenne
1/2 tsp ground allspice
80ml olive oil
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Salt to taste
Burgers:
4 good quality chicken breasts
4 Portuguese rolls (Ciabatta rolls work great too!)
Little gem lettuce
On the vine large tomatoes
Mayonnaise
Olive oil for frying
Directions:
FOR THE PERI PERI SAUCE:
Preheat the oven to 180c fan/200c standard.
In a roasting tray, add the peppers, onions, oregano, paprika and 1 tbsp olive oil. Massage the vegetables with your hands they’re coated in the oil and spices.
Roast for 15-20 minutes. Until soft and a little browned.
While the vegetables are roasting, add the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and bay leaves to a small saucepan. Over a medium heat, bring to a boil. Once just starting to boil, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
Discard the bay leaves.
I use a food processor for this but use whatever blender you have to hand! Add the roasted vegetables, vinegar and lemon mixture to your blender.
Add the birds eye chillies (refer to notes), garlic, cayenne, allspice, olive oil and rosemary, along with half a tsp of salt.
Blend until you have a smooth sauce with some flecks of vegetables and herbs.
Check the salt. Blend again for a couple of seconds if adding more.
Pour into a jug and set aside.
FOR THE BUTTERFLY CHICKEN:
Using a large kitchen knife, slice into one side of the breast, slicing through being careful not to cut all the way to the other side.
Open the chicken breast like a book. Until it resembles a butterfly.
Put the chicken breasts into a large bowl. Pour over some of the marinade and massage the breasts making sure they’re all evenly coated.
Marinade in the fridge for 4hrs and up to 12hrs.
TO COOK:
Preheat the oven to 160c fan/180c standard.
Heat some olive oil in a griddle pan over a medium high heat. You want the pan to be nice and hot as we want some caramelisation.
Working in batches of two at a time, lay down the chicken into the hot pan. Cook for around 3-4 minutes. Or until the bottom has dark golden sear marks. Whilst one side is cooking use a pastry brush to brush the breast with more peri peri. Remember to pour some of the sauce onto a plate to do this, so you don’t put raw chicken juices from the baste back into the sauce!
Flip the chicken breast and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Baste the up facing side with more sauce.
Transfer the chicken to a tray and repeat with the other two breasts.
Once all the chicken breasts are seared, move to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. Or until a meat thermometer reaches 73c.
If you want more charring on your chicken, you can griddle it once more for a quick couple of minutes. Baste with sauce as you go. If your chicken looks perfect out of the oven then you’re good to go!
TO SERVE:
In a small bowl, mix a 50/50 ratio of mayonnaise and peri peri.
Half your buns down the middle and toast until golden.
Slice the tomatoes and season with salt.
Rip off whole leaves of lettuce and rinse with water to remove any grit.
TO ASSEMBLE:
Generously spread perinaise over both halves of the buns.
Place the chicken breast on the bottom half. Top with lettuce and sliced tomato.
Top with the other half of bun and press with your palm to squeeze together.
Push a cocktail stick through to hold, if you like.
Enjoy!