PRESERVED LEMON AND SUMAC CHICKEN, ROMESCO SAUCE

4 part boned chicken breasts, skin on, wing bone attached
1/2 preserved lemon, roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 heaped tsp sumac
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE ROMESCO SAUCE
4 choricero (or chipotle or other ) peppers (smokey, not too spicy), soaked in warm water for 2 hours
4 plum tomatoes
100ml olive oil plus 3 tbsp
1 whole head of garlic halved around the equator
5-6 canned/jar pimentos
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch chilli flakes
Zest of 1 lemon
150g blanched almonds
50ml sherry vinegar
Large Handful chopped parsley
Maldon salt and pepper

To make the sauce: heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Drain the soaked chillies and remove the seeds and set aside.

Put the tomatoes in a roasting dish. Drizzle them with a tbps of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the two halves of garlic in foil and add to the roasting dish. Roast for 20 -30 minutes. When cool enough, pop the garlic cloves out of their skins (they should be soft and sweet when done) and set aside.

Toast the almonds in a roasting dish for 8-10 minutes - be careful and keep an eye on them/set a timer as they can burn easily.

Put the chillies, roasted tomatoes, garlic, pimentos, smoked paprika, lemon, almonds, vinegar and parsley into a food processor. Add 100ml of olive oil and blitz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and keep in fridge until needed.

To prepare the chicken: combine chicken, chopped preserved lemon, sumac, olive oil and salt and pepper in a large Ziploc bag and leave overnight in fridge.

When ready to eat, allow chicken to come to room temp then sear off on griddle or bbq skin side down first for 5 mins on medium heat to seal. When skin all crisp, turn over. Transfer to oven or lower heat on bbq until cooked through.

Serve sliced with lemon wedges and Romesco sauce.

RECIPE WRITTEN EXCLUSIVELY FOR WHAT KATIE ATE BY SARAH HUGHES