Butterflied Pesto Chicken with a Mushroom and Chorizo Sauce

Easier than it sounds and a heaps shorter cooking time than regular roasting. I have done butterflied chicken a stack of times and it is easily worth the effort. Don't be afraid, give it a go - just try and buy the smallest chook you can or you will get a varied result with juiciness. It is possible to cook butterflied chicken on the barbecue but you will need to cook over a low to moderate heat and cover with foil loosely to gain even cooking. To be honest though, the real winner here was the chorizo sauce. I went off chorizo years ago because I found the product generally made here was overpowering and I recently decided that I would like to try it again. Chorizo, mushroom and wine are good. The cooking times will vary so you will need to keep an eye on it. This was enough for 6 adults with leftovers.

3 small chickens butterflied

4 tbs pesto

6 slices prosciutto/Serrano ham

1 lemon halved and in 1 cm slices

1 red onion in wedges, broken up
3 cloves garlic in slices
Olive oil
15 or so small button mushrooms
1 chorizo sausage in medium sized chunks

2 cloves garlic roughly chopped

1 handful of cherry tomato quartered
Salt and pepper
1 cup white wine
1/2 a handful of parsley chopped
Rosemary new potatoes
Steamed greens

Preheat an oven to 200C. Scatter the onion pieces on roasting trays about the size of each butterflied chicken. Top the onion with slices of lemon and the sliced garlic and pour over a little oil. Lay the chicken on the onion mix and smear pesto over each. Lay the prosciutto over the chickens and then place in the oven. Roast at 200C for twenty minutes then reduce to 180C. Should take about 45 minutes but check after 35. Stick a skewer in the widest part and it should run clear if it is cooked. Just to be sure at the end, I carved each chicken (removed the leg/thigh in one piece) then placed them all back in the oven for 5 minutes. Reserve the cooking juices and keep the onion mixture.

While the chicken is roasting, heat a little olive oil to medium in a frying pan and fry off the chorizo pieces. When the chorizo has some colour, add in the garlic and mushrooms, salt and pepper and continue to cook until the mushrooms are becoming soft and have some colour. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and reduce by 2/3. Pour in any reserved cooking liquid and reduce until you reach your desired consistency. Stir through the tomato and chopped parsley and check for seasoning.

Spoon some onion mixture onto each plate and place some chicken on top. Pour over some mushroom/chorizo sauce and serve with rosemary potato and steamed greens.