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Pesto Butter Chicken
My basil plants went crazy after I put them in hydro pots! I kept picking them, but the leaves grew right back on leaving me with a continuous amount of fresh basil. Not a bad deal for two €2,- plants that I bought a few months ago. I’m not complaining.
“Pesto!“, I thought. Okay, so I admit that was not the most exciting or brilliant plan of them all, but I do love a good home-made pesto. But then I had a change of heart.
Look what I’ve done!
The weather finally resembles summer. It was hot and humid and when it gets like that I don’t want to spend my time confined to a kitchen, slaving over a hot stove. Having said that, I really needed some chicken for my favorite chicken macaroni salad. So it was time to fire up the pit and fix something I call my Pesto Butter Chicken.
The name kinda says it all, doesn’t it? It’s a calorie bomb alright, there’s no denying that, but it’s so SO good. Sinfully good, almost.
Not really a difficult recipe, but I did grab my camera and took a few shots to show you how I do it. Just in case inquiring minds want to know.
Ingredients:
1 free range roast chicken
2 oz butter
lots of fresh basil
1 garlic clove
coarse sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
You’ll need a food processor for this. Combine the basil and butter. I usually eyeball it. Crack the pepper on top and grate the garlic in there.
Add a pinch of coarse sea salt.
Blitz and voila: pesto butter.
All that’s left is the chicken. I loosened up the skin and rubbed the butter underneath it. Yup, all of it: it’s not called butter chicken for nothing!
Usually you just rub the butter underneath the breast, but I pretty much put it everywhere. The way I see it: if its got skin, it can hold my butter! It’ll keep the chicken moist and flavors it when it drips down during cooking.
Pat the skin dry with paper towels. Don’t apply butter or oil—the skin should be really dry to become perfectly crisp. Apply your rub of choice. Hers’s my favorite: Byron’s butt rub.
Apply a generous amount and season the cavity. Rub it in there, this will also massage the chicken which helps distribute the butter. Yeah, I know how weird hat sounds!
I got my Big Green Egg stable at 375˚F (175˚C).
Those who are about to roast salute you.
I always use a vertical chicken roaster. That way the butter will drip down during grilling. I placed it on top of a dripping pan to catch the excess butter. You can also use a half full beer can.
And off big bird went, straight into my egg, for about 50 minutes. It wasn’t that big a bird, really. This was the poor girl after 40 minutes.
I can’t stretch this enough: never mess around with undercooked chicken. Food safety for all. Core temperature needs to be 165°F (74Cº) in order for it to be safe. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, wrapped in aluminum foil, the meat will continue to cook during this period.
But then you have the most amazing chicken. Moist, succulent, tender and so flavorful. Not enough superlatives, really.
With a perfect crispy skin.
And that is my Pesto Butter Chicken.
You won’t be needing sauce with this one!
| Pesto Butter Chicken | |
| Ingredients |
2 oz butter lots of fresh basil 1 garlic clove coarse sea salt freshly cracked black pepper |
| Directions |
Loosen up the chicken’s skin and rub the butter underneath it. Pat the skin dry and season it with your rub of choice, also in the cavity. Set your Big Green Egg, BBQ or oven stable at 375˚F (175˚C). Put the chicken on a vertical roaster or half full beer can, and place it in a dripping pan. Roast the chicken in 50 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken, until it has a 165°F (74Cº) core temperature. Wrap it in aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting it. |
| Meal type: | main course, poultry, bbq |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Copyright: | © kayotickitchen.com |
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I LOVE the salute! And I want a Big Green Egg! I rarely BBQ so I can hardly justify it but that BGE might work for me…I tend to walk off and leave things to burn on a gas green so obviously that’s not my thing…hmm…maybe I just talked myself into one! :)
Okay, your saluting chicken did me in. LMAO. :) Looks yummy. Too bad I have a BBQ ban in my building.
THAT. IS. GORGEOUS.
Seriously, I just fell out of my chair. But I’m alert again and ready to make this.
Dear Lord.
So, is that basil butter or pesto butter? Pesto involves a bit more ingredients (e.g., basil, pine nuts, olive oil, parmigiano reggiano, pecorino romano, etc.) than just basil and salt. Either way, though, the chicken looks amazing. Congrats on the new cutting board!
Pesto is a generic name for anything that is made by crushing. Well, not anything, but you catch my drift. Pesto rosso, for instance, doesn’t contain any basil at all, but it’s still a pesto. Pistou is a pesto without pine nuts and cheese. There are actually a lot of variations to the pesto alla genovese you are referring to. I call this one pesto butter :)
Add a can of beer to the chicken and you got your self a beer can chicken Super moist ! Lovely pics. I noticed a change in your picture taking more close ups (macro) ? :)
I mentioned you can also use a half full beer can! But did you know it’s just as amazing when you use wine in stead of beer?
Thanks for the saluting chicken! Awesome and made me laugh. I am thinking of getting a big green egg. You almost have me sold on it!
It’s really not a BBQ but the best outdoor kitchen you could have.
The ‘salute’ was hilarious, but the roasted chicken does look delicious ! The pesto butter looks awesome, loved that click too..
Looks Yummie like always. Question for you where do you buy that butt rubb? Do the sell this in the Netherlands too?
Pretty soon they’ll start selling it here in NL as well!
Sounds delicious…any idea what to substitute for the butt rub? Haven’t seen that kind of thing around my home.
Just use whatever rub you like.
I would love more information on your hydro pots. I want to grow some herbs indoors.
They’re simple two layer pots. The bottom later is basically a water reservoir that you fill twice a week. The top layer holds the plant. You put one end of a hydro cord into the earth, and the other end into the water reservoir keeping the herbs watered constantly with just the right amount of water.
I hope you’re planning to post your Chicken Macaroni Salad recipe next!
thank you for answering so quickly – I am having a hard time find these in Houston.
Ik koop eigenlijk nooit een hele kip, alleen een kip die al in stukken is… Maar het ziet er weer heerlijk uit.
Mag ik vragen waar je die hydropot hebt gekocht? Het lukt mij nl nooit om een basilicumplantje in leven te houden.
Lol, your saluting chicken looks brilliant! Wondering the same thing as Saskia though, where did you get those hydro pots? I googled for hydro pot… and all it came up with was weed and mariuana lol
This looks amazing! Well done.
OMG this looks os good! I will be trying it one day. A quick question about your hydro pot. What is it? I love growing herbs but they always seem to dye on me. I am intrigued to learn more about it.
Thanks for your great recipes!
Shima
I made this on a spit on our gas grill and it was wonderful! So tender and juicy. Keep up the good work Kay. I love reading your recipes. Your comments make me chuckle!
Lovely recept. I tried it for evening diner and loved it, same as my wife. Thanks for the recipe