Smoked paprika roast chicken, potato wedges and saffron allioli
A lovely, golden dish. It’s only chicken and potatoes but the smoked paprika – the taste of Spain – and the saffron allioli takes it to a whole other level.
You can make the allioli the day before you want to serve it, cover and keep it in the fridge. A few caperberries – either on each plate or in a small bowl on the table – add another Hispanic touch.
Mix the olive oil, salt and pepper and 3 tbsp of the paprika together.
Paint or spoon this on to the chicken.
Roast in the oven for 1 hour 50 minutes.
It is cooked when the juices which run out between the leg and body are clear, with no trace of pink.
Meanwhile, make the allioli.
Crush the garlic with a little sea salt in a large mortar and pestle, or a bowl.
Stir in the egg yolks.
Add the oil drop by drop, very slowly at first, beating with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer as you do so.
Only add more oil once the previous lot has been incorporated and the mixture has thickened.
When you’ve added all the oil, heat the saffron in the lemon juice and leave to cool.
Gradually add this to the allioli, taste and season with more salt, white pepper and any lemon (or vinegar) you think you need.
It’s better to taste as you go rather than sticking to specified amounts, as vinegars vary in strength.
Cover and keep in the fridge.
Cut the potatoes into wedges, about 3.
5cm (1½in) at their widest, put them in a roasting tin, add a couple of tbsp of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and the remaining smoked paprika.
Turn everything over with your hands.
Put them in the oven to cook in the final 20 minutes of the chicken’s cooking time.
(That way they can cook while the chicken is resting.
) Give them a shake halfway to move them around a bit.
When the chicken is cooked, cover it with foil.
Leave it to rest for 15 minutes while the wedges finish cooking, before serving with the potatoes and the allioli.
This dish can take the grand treatment: put the bird on a heated platter and pile the wedges around it.
Serve with the allioli and a green salad, or sautéed spinach with pine nuts and raisins.