Chicken PiriPiri with Peppers

We are filled with numerous culinary television shows, all which inspire us to try out the given recipes or make them our own. Here in Portugal recently aired Jamie's 30 Minute Meals, and low and behold the menu was one of Portuguese inspiration. Its kind of funny how we have such a rich gastronomy and what most people get out of it the Chicken PiriPiri. It is great, but there is so much more, and hopefully I can broaden your horizons to some of our specialties in the future. For now lets stick to this, I thought: "what do I have to lose, lets try the recipe with a bit of twist". So here it is.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1/2 red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 chili pepper (used green, but you can use whatever you have at hand or mix it up)
1 lemon
Bunch of Basil
Olive Oil
Salt
Black Pepper

Directions:


Prepare the sauce: In a blender add the onion, garlic, chili, lemon zest, 1/2 lemon juice, basil and about 3 tbsp. of olive oil. Blend until you have a thick sauce, if too thick add a bit of water. Season to taste.

Pre-heat oven to 200ºC

The chicken: Keep the skin face down on cutting board and slash the thighs close to the bone to allow for quicker cooking. Drizzle with olive oil and season with some salt. On a pre-heated griddle place the thighs skin side down and cook until golden brown. Turn them over and continue to cook.

In a roasting tray add the sauce, and the chicken thighs.

Using the same griddle add the peppers cut into squares and toss around until they have been grilled. (about 3-5 min.)

Add the  peppers to the roasting tray and let cook in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Remove and serve. Goes well with mashed potatoes, rice and fries.