Crispy Lemon Rosemary Brick Chicken
The BBQ favorite.
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The Italian method of grilling chicken under a brick – known as pollo al mattone – produces delicious, perfectly juicy meat. Here, we create two temperature zones on the grill to achieve the ultimate crispy skin without burning. If you don’t have bricks, use cast iron skillets.
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Ingredients
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 lemon, zested
- 3/4 tsp each sea salt and ground black pepper, divided (TRY: Simply Organic Ground Black Pepper)
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp olive oil (TRY: California Olive Ranch Reserve Miller’s Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- 4 8-oz bone-in, skin on chicken breasts
Equipment
- 4 bricks, wrapped in a double layer of foil, or 2 cast iron skillets
Preparation
1. Preheat a greased grill to medium- high with one-half of the grill turned off to create a cool zone.
2. Mound rosemary, garlic, lemon zest and two-thirds of each salt and pepper on a board and finely chop to a sticky paste. Place in a small bowl; stir in mustard and oil.
3. Carefully slide fingers under chicken skin and rub herb mixture underneath. Season chicken on both sides with remaining one- third of each salt and pepper. (MAKE AHEAD: Prepare chicken up to 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.)
4. Arrange chicken skin side down on hot side of grill. Place a foil- wrapped brick on each chicken breast and cover grill. If using cast iron skillets, place a piece of foil over each chicken breast and then place skillets on top.
5. Cook until skin is golden brown and crispy, about 10 minutes, moving the chicken over to the cool zone
if there are any flare-ups or chicken starts to burn. Remove bricks (or skillets and foil) with oven mitts, flip chicken with tongs and replace bricks (or foil and skillets) on top.
6. Grill, covered, until an instant- read thermometer inserted into thickest part of largest breast registers 165°F, 8 to 10 minutes more. Carefully transfer chicken to a platter, skin side up, and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1/4 of recipe
- Calories 301
- Carbohydrate Content 2 g
- Cholesterol Content 111 mg
- Fat Content 14 g
- Fiber Content 0 g
- Protein Content 40 g
- Saturated Fat Content 3 g
- Sodium Content 543 mg
- Sugar Content 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat Content 6 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat Content 3 g