Grilled flat chicken with broad bean crush

This Lebanese recipe comes courtesy of Greg Malouf, master of modern Middle Eastern cuisine.

Ingredients:

• 2 x 500 g (1 lb) free-range chickens or poussins
• Salt and pepper

Broad bean crush

• 1 clove garlic
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 125 g (4 1⁄2 oz) broad beans, podded, blanched and peeled
• 1 shallot, very finely diced
• 1⁄4 cup coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped
• 50 ml (2 fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon

Preparation:

This flattened chicken dish is cooked under the grill and served smeared with the earthy and spicy broad bean crush. The crush is also delicious on toasted bread, served as a canapé with drinks before dinner.

• Preheat your grill to its highest temperature and line the tray of the grill with foil to make cleaning up easier.

• To prepare the chickens, cut them down the back and splay them open. Season them with salt and pepper and place them under the grill, skin side down, making sure they are about 3 cm (1 1⁄4 in) from the heat source. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the skin starts to blister.

• While the chickens are grilling, prepare the broad bean crush. First, pound the garlic and salt to a smooth paste. Next, add the remaining ingredients to the mortar and pound them one by one or tip everything into a food processor. Either way, what you are aiming for is a sludgy, rough texture.

• When the chickens are cooked, smear on the broad bean crush and cook for a few more minutes. Serve with Arabic bread, lemon wedges and a soft leaf salad.

Recipe from Saha by Greg and Lucy Malouf, with photographs by Matt Harvey.
Published by Hardie Grant Books.