Basque Roast Chicken (Chicken Basque Style Recipe)
Basque Roast Chicken is a colorful peppery stew with roasted chicken seasoned with aromatic herbs and spices, lightly spicy. Basque Roast Chicken Style is a flavorful homemade and delicious recipe. A free-style recipe that gives you the prospect of being on a worldwide foodie adventure.
This chicken stew recipe makes a hearty dinner any day of the week. Like many other chicken stew recipes, such as Crispy Chicken with Chayote and Carrot Stew, Basque Roast Chicken Stew is a one-of-a-kind comfort food where you can create your own updated version of the chicken recipe.
It is challenging to prepare because of the attention to detail mixing the right seasoning blend with the vegetables. The right combination of ingredients, herbs, and spices is the epitome of this recipe.
What is Basque Style Cooking?
Let’s talk first about the meaning of Basque. Basque Country is a region located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France. The language spoken is also called Basque.
Basque Style Cooking is strongly influenced by French, Portuguese, and Spanish cuisines. This cooking style consists of meats and fish that are often cooked with sweet peppers, tomatoes, garlic, paprika, and cayenne. This cooking style mixes the flavors of the countryside of Spain, France, and Portuguese with traditional recipes passed down from generation to generation.
Many delicious dishes do not include tomatoes and peppers, and they are all made with fresh ingredients. These recipes are a myriad of comfort food made easy.
What is Basque Roast Chicken
Basque Roast Chicken is similar to a one-pan dish. Everything is cooked in one pan, meat and vegetables and served with either bread (a nice baguette or ciabatta bread), salad, potatoes or rice. You can also do it with different vegetables.
This recipe requires one main spice, Piment d’Espelette, a type of pepper cultivated in the northern territory of the Basque people. If you happen not to have it, don’t worry, you can substitute it with cayenne pepper.
For authenticity, I would advise using an organic or free-range chicken. You will get more flavor, and the dish will be healthy for you.
Is this recipe budget-friendly?
The answer is yes, but it depends.
The recipe is budget-friendly, like my Perfect Roast Chicken with Noubess Seasoning if you know how to shop around for ingredients. Local supermarkets sometimes have great deals on fresh vegetables and meat. Taking advantage of low sales prices will help you save money. It is all about creating a sensible budget you can follow and stick to.
How to make Chicken Basque Style
There are different versions of this recipe. You have to find that you enjoy making, like this one I am about to share.
My recipe is not authentic; I have updated it to fit my palate and cooking needs. For instance, the peppers, I don’t often use roasted peppers. I find this extra step a bit too long. I could go for store-bought smoke peppers – but that’s out of the question. Too many preservatives and the taste is nothing like fresh roasted peppers.
Over the years, I have adapted to making the recipes using fresh bell peppers because I prefer their taste over roasted peppers. Many recipes include potatoes, olives and the method of cooking is also a bit different.
My version is pretty much simple. Chop all the ingredients, season the vegetables and sausage, season the chicken, and roast everything in a deep baking dish.
What ingredients are in the recipe?
The ingredients for the recipe are as follows:
- Red bell peppers: buy fresh bell peppers, and make sure they are not soft to the touch
- Onion: I love using red onion because it has more flavor than white onion
- Can of Whole Peeled Tomato: store-bought is fine, and it is more convenient. Buy organic if you can.
- Sausages: most recipes call for chorizo sausages. I am not a huge fan of this type of sausage when cooked this way. I prepare it sauteed with onion and peppers or fried. For this, I am using uncured kielbasa sausages. This particular sausage is full of flavor and adds tons of flavor to the dish.
- Garlic: fresh is always better
- A whole chicken: you can use already cutup pieces by I prefer buying a whole organic chicken for this recipe.
- Olive oil: good olive oil is better for authenticity purposes.
- Mushroom: not too many recipes contain mushrooms. It complements the dish very well and is a healthy carb. I use portobello mushrooms because that’s one of my favorite mushrooms.
- Fresh thyme: I use a few fresh thyme sprigs and not chopped.
- Fresh Basil leaves: fresh is always better. This is optional, but I would recommend adding it the first time you’re making it. It adds tons of delicious flavor to the chicken and is always good with vegetables.
- Salt: kosher or sea salt but not too much because of the sausages.
- Sweet Paprika: flavor and color, you need this for the recipe
- Smoked Paprika: just a hint of smokiness
- Cayenne Pepper: for a little bit of kick
- Green Olives: this is optional but again, try it first. The taste of the olives mixed with the other ingredients is out of this world. Just a touch of acidic combined with the sweetness of the peppers and onions – tons of yumminess!
How to make Basque Roast Chicken
This recipe is simple enough to make. You do not have to roast the peppers. But if you want to, place the peppers on a baking sheet, cut side down, and broil until blackened, about 12 minutes. Let cool enough to handle. Peel off blackened skins and cut them into big chunks.
Cut all the vegetables and sausages almost the same size. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl. Add the whole peeled tomatoes cut in halves, fresh garlic, thyme, parsley, and basil. Season with Noubess Garlic and Herb Seasoning (or with salt and pepper if preferred – but minimal salt) Add to a deep baking dish.
Prepare the chicken. If you use a whole chicken, cut it into pieces, clean and rinse, and pat dry with paper towels. Place in a bowl, toss with the olive oil. Combine salt, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and rub all over the chicken pieces: place, skin side up, on top of the vegetable mixture in pan.
Roast in the oven at 450°F, basting halfway through until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 45 minutes.
Serve with grilled vegetables, bread, root vegetables, or grain dishes.
Do you freeze or not freeze?
I am not a fan of freezing food, and I guess it is because I don’t mind cooking almost every day. 🙂
Freezing this dish is optional. Remember that cooked mushrooms do not freeze well. They retain more water and lose their flavor.
If you want to freeze this meal, I would recommend not adding the mushroom.
This dish is an all-year-round meal you can serve any day of the week. If you love leftovers, this meal tastes even better the next day or the day after.
Basque Roast Chicken or Chicken Basque Style Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 sweet red peppers halved and cored
- 2 medium red onion thickly sliced
- 1- 28 oz can whole peeled tomato drained
- 5 oz uncured kielbasa sausages cut in chunks or cured chorizo sausages
- 1 1/2 tsp Noubess Garlic and Herb Seasoning
- 10 cloves garlic
- 1 -4 pound whole chicken or 8 bone-in skin-on chicken pieces (half-breasts, thighs or drumsticks), organic preferably
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces of mushroom portobela, cut into chunks
- 2 – 3 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper depending on your heat tolerance
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup of pitted green olives
Instructions
- You do not have to roast the peppers. But if you want to, place the peppers on a baking sheet, cut side down, and broil until blackened, about 12 minutes. Let cool enough to handle. Peel off blackened skins and cut into big chunks.
- Cut all the vegetables and sausages almost the same size. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl. Add the whole peeled tomatoes cut in halves, fresh garlic, thyme, parsley, and basil. Season with Noubess Garlic and Herb Seasoning, (or with salt and pepper if preferred – but minimal salt) Add to a deep baking dish.
- Prepare the chicken. If you are using a whole chicken, cut it into pieces, clean and rinse, and pat dry it with paper towels. Place in a bowl, toss with the olive oil. Combine salt, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and rub all over the chicken pieces. Place, skin side up, on top of the vegetable mixture in pan.
- Roast in the oven at 450°F, basting halfway through until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 45 minutes.
Notes
- shrimp
- green peas
- carrots
- potatoes
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
