Chicken with grilled spring onions and romesco sauce is packed full of flavour and is surprisingly easy. This is one that is fancy enough to serve up to guests, yet simple enough to make for a midnight meal. I’m sure that you will love the contrast between the spiced chicken, sweet and nutty sauce and the grilled spring onions. A perfect combination!
Where did I get the idea?
I had recently been focusing on Spains Neighbour, Portugal, while writing my article on the best foods form Portugal to try. https://atasteofabroad.com/14-foods-from-portugal-you-have-to-try/ . I love many of those dishes but I had a bunch of spring onions that I needed to use, so I looked across the border for inspiration.
I was largely inspired by the calcotoda, an annual celebration of the new harvest of Calcot (A green onion). These onions are chargrilled and served with romesco or salvitxada , along with fresh bread and plenty of wine. You can find more information at the following link: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jan/11/calcots-food-festival-catalonia-spring-onions
There is also a great episode of No Reservations featuring Anthony Boudain at a Calcotoda. This episode gives an insider look into the celebration and how they are cooked.
Romesco Sauce
If you’re not familiar with romesco sauce, then you are missing out! It is a somewhat sweet sauce that features sweet peppers and tomatoes. It is balanced out with the addition of sherry or red wine vinegar. Paprika and a dash of chilli are welcome additions for spice along with garlic for depth of flavour. Almonds bring a lovely nutty flavour and texture. This, along with olive oil, helps to create a thick and luscious sauce.
For a traditional romesco sauce, roasted tomatoes and a particular sun-dried pepper is used. For a similar result, I have found that using semi-dried tomatoes along with jarred piquillo peppers works well. Piquillo peppers can be found in major supermarkets. I’ve made this sauce with and without parsley.
Paprika spiced chicken
I loved the idea behind the Calcotoda celebration, but I wanted to create something that could be served as a light main. That’s where the Paprika spiced chicken comes in. I decided on a simple marinade that would complement the flavours of the sauce, utilising olive oil, paprika, garlic, lemon and salt and pepper.
Grilling the onions
The preparation of the spring onions is super simple. They are grilled with olive oil and salt and pepper until slightly charred. I made the decision to cut these into smaller pieces so that they would fit on the plate.I also chose to pan-fry these for convenience and they tasted great. However, if you have the opportunity to cook these over a wood flame, please do. You will get that extra bit of smokiness that only woodfired cooking can bring!
If you like our Chicken with grilled spring onions and Romesco sauce, why not check out some other Spanish flavours with our Spicy Spanish Fish : https://atasteofabroad.com/spicy-spanish-fish/
Chicken with grilled spring onions and romesco sauce
Paprika spiced chicken with grilled spring and onions and a rich romesco sauce. This dish is packed full of flavour and is surprisingly easy.
Ingredients
- Paprika chicken
- 2 medium-sized chicken breasts, halved horizontally
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ teaspoon of pepper
- Romesco sauce
- 300-gram jar (approximately) of piquillo peppers or roasted peppers
- ¼ cup of semi-dried tomatoes in oil (drained by not rinsed)
- 1/3 cup of unsalted roasted almonds
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped roughly
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon of chilli powder
- 1/3 of a cup of olive oil
- Green onions
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 4 green onions
- Sprinkle of salt
- Sprinkle of pepper
Instructions
1.Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl with the chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes but preferably a few hours.
2.Prepare your romesco sauce by adding all the Romesco sauce ingredients except for the olive oil and blend until just combined. Gradually add the olive oil until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. I personally like a little bit of texture from the almonds, so I stop blending once the oil is added. If you would prefer a finer sauce, blend for a further 30 seconds.
3.Once the chicken is marinated, place the chicken with the marinade into a pan on a medium high heat. Cook for approximately 4 minutes per side until cooked through or until the internal temperature registers 75 degrees.
4.While the chicken is cooking, add 2 tablespoons of oil to a high heat pan. Place the green onions into the pan and season with salt and pepper. After about 3 minutes, you will need to turn them. They will have spots of black but this is what you are going for. A bit of a charred exterior. In saying this, do not overcook them or they will be fully black and can get stringy.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 681Total Fat: 53gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 42gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 899mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 5gSugar: 6gProtein: 31g
Although A Taste Of Abroad aims to provide accurate nutrition information, the figures are created by an online calculator and should be used as an estimate only.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
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