Cooking en papillote or in a bundle is a fantastic way of preparing chicken. It steams all the ingredients together and keeps the chicken lovely and moist, then once the vegetables are cooked, they reduce down and make a juicy broth. Serve these on a plate or boards, still in the paper, so your guests can open their bundle themselves and get the first whiff of the fresh vegetables and herbs with the golden chicken.
Ingredients
- 20 baby new potatoes
- 4 chicken statler breasts or breasts, skin on
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Generous ½ cup salted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons chopped lovage or watercress
- 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 ounces salicornia (pousse pierre) or tenderstem broccoli
- Heaped ⅓ cup shelled peas
- 2 zucchini, roughly chopped
- 2 large vine tomatoes, chopped, including seeds
- ½ cup chorizo, thinly sliced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
How to Make It
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Put the potatoes in a pot of water, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium and cook 10 minutes until tender, then drain and set aside.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the chicken and fry a few minutes until just colored on all sides, then remove from the heat.
- Mix together the butter, lovage, tarragon and garlic.
- Put 4 large sheets of parchment paper on the counter. Divide the samphire, peas, zucchini and tomatoes among the papers, then top each pile with a tablespoon of the herb butter. Put a chicken breast on the vegetables and a teaspoon of butter on top. Season with a little salt and pepper. Bring the edges of the parchment paper up over the ingredients of the first bundle and fold and scrunch the edges together to seal. Repeat to form 3 more bundles and put them in a roasting pan.
- Bake the bundles 15 to 20 minutes, then carefully open one to check that the juices run clear when the thickest part of the chicken is pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the chorizo and fry a few minutes until browned, then add the potatoes and stir until heated through. Serve the chicken still in the paper so your guests can open their own bundle, along with the potatoes and chorizo.
