Pollo Alla Diavola
Submitted by janie
Pollo alla Diavola, the devil’s chicken from Tuscany. Chili-infused olive oil marinated chicken halves grilled hot over charcoal until deeply charred.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
45 minREADY
1 hrsPollo alla Diavola, meaning “chicken cooked in the style of the devil," is Tuscan grill cooking stripped down to its punchiest essentials. Four ingredients: olive oil, dried chilies, lemon, and a whole chicken split in half and pounded flat.
The chili-oil infusion is the whole ballgame. Whole dried red chilies fry in olive oil until they turn deep mahogany, releasing their capsaicin and smoky heat into the oil before getting discarded. That spicy red-tinged oil is what marinades the chicken.
This dish demands high, dry charcoal heat. An indoor broiler can work in a pinch but lacks the raw firepower. You want flames licking the skin, blistering spots of char, and smoke-kissed edges. Serve with lemon wedges and a glass of Chianti. That’s the whole meal.
Chef Tips
- Pound the chicken halves flat, not just to ¾ inch thick, so they cook evenly from edge to edge.
- Brown the dried chilies until they are a deep, dark brown, almost black. Pull them too soon and the oil has no bite.
- Start skin-side down to get the fat rendering and the skin crisping from the beginning.
- Baste often with the reserved marinade. That’s where the flavor concentrates.
Variations
- Spatchcock the chicken instead of halving for faster, even cooking.
- Add 2 or 3 crushed garlic cloves to the oil with the chilies for deeper flavor.
- Finish with a drizzle of good Italian olive oil and flaky salt right off the grill.
Ingredients
Directions
On a stove burner, heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.
Add the chili pods and sauté them until they are a deep, dark brown.
Turn off the heat and cool the olive oil and throw away the browned chilies.
Pound the chickens will with a meat mallet to flatten them out.
Add the juice of 1 of the lemons to the seasoned olive oil along with 3 or 4 twists of pepper.
Put the chicken halves in a big bowl, pour the seasoned olive oil over them and turn the peices over and over to coat them well.
Let the chicken stand for 1 to 2 hours, turning the halves from time to time.
Start your charcoal grill.
When your grill is heaped high with hot coals, put the marinated chicken halves on to cook, skin side down.
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and a little more pepper, grill thoroughly, turning and basting with the remaining marinade.
The chicken is done when it is tender and has a dark brown crust all over (some spots may well be charred) You can use the broiler in your oven, but an oven broiler never seems to get hot enough.
If you want to try, preheat the broiler, put the chicken as close to the flame or coil as possible and broil it, turning it frequently and basting it often.
Serve chicken hot with lemon wedges.
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