Salsa Verde Mayo Chicken Kebab
It’s so simple to combine mayonnaise and Italian salsa verde as a marinade to create a oven baked or air fryer chicken breast kebab that is moist, super herby and definitely magical!I have used good quality mayo for many purposes in my kitchen but ‘food glue’ has not been one of them. It’s actually a thing and I’m probably, as usual, a bit late to the party.
Equipment
- Food processor
- Salad spinner
- 500ml plastic or glass jar with lid
- Three 22-25 cm metal skewers
- Shallow roasting pan
- Instant read thermometer
Ingredients
Chicken kebab:
- 2 large skinless chicken breasts (600g total weight)
- ½ cup full fat mayonnaise
- 1 batch salsa verde sauce (below)
Salsa Verde:
- 100 g fresh basil (6 cups loosely packed leaves)
- 100 g continental parsley (6 cups loosely packed leaves)
- 4 small garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons capers (drained)
- 4 anchovies
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 – 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 200 – 300ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Salsa Verde:
- Wash the parsley and basil in cold water. Spin dry and roll up between paper towels to absorb any extra water. Alternative, dry between multiple layers of paper towels or a clean tea towel.
- Pick basil and parsley leaves, discarding the large stems (small stems are fine) and refrigerate until required.
- Peel garlic cloves and crush them into the bowl of the food processor.
- Press anchovy fillets between paper towels lightly to remove excess oil.
- Add the capers, anchovies, mustard, and 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and pulse until chopped finely. Scrape down the bowl several times to ensure even chopping.
- Add parsley, pulse a couple of times and scrape down the bowl. Then add the basil and pulse until herbs are finely chopped (not too fine you don’t want a puree).
- For the marinade, remove 2 tablespoons of the herb mix at this stage, set aside until required.
- Whisk in remaining vinegar and olive oil (you may not need it all – taste as you go – I like a good hit of vinegar myself).
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour sauce into a clean 500ml container, level out, and top with some olive oil to prevent oxidation.
- Store in the refrigerator until required.
Chicken kebab:
- Preheat oven 250°C fan forced (put rack in top third of oven).
- In a medium sized bowl, make the marinade by whisking the 2 tablespoons of herb mix into a ½ cup of marinade until combined.
- Slice chicken breasts across the grain into 1 ½ cm slices.
- Add the chicken to the marinade and mix until well coated (I use my hands).
- Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. This step is optional as this marinade is a coating and does not absorb into the meat.
- Arrange the slices of chicken from longest to shortest on a board.
- Start creating the kebab by pushing the slices onto the first skewer through the middle of the slice of chicken crosswise. Start with the longest slices and work towards the shortest (smallest pieces of chicken).
- Work with the meat laying flat out on a board and straighten the pieces as you go. Your kebab will have a pine tree shape.
- One skewer at a time, run the other two skewers through the chicken pieces on either side of the middle skewer.
- Start at the bottom and run each skewer through the chicken at an angle so it meets the middle skewer at the other end of the kebab.
- Move the kebab carefully to a baking paper lined shallow roasting pan.
- Use up any leftover marinade on both sides of the kebab and push the marinade in between the slices of meat.
- Cook at 250°C fan forced on a rack in the top third of the oven for approximately 15 minutes.
- The final internal temperature should reach 65°C. You can take the kebab out at 63-64°C, as the temperature will continue to rise after it leaves the oven.
- As soon as the kebab is out of the oven baste it with the reserved salsa verde sauce until it is well coated.
- Leave to rest 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
A technique not a recipe: I’ve given pretty exact measurements for all the salsa verde ingredients but it’s almost impossible to eye up a bunch of basil and decide if it’ll yield 100g or 6 cups of leaves. I do err on buying more rather than less and then portion up the amount of sauce based on how what amount of leaves I end up with. But try not to sweat it too much. I recommend holding back some of the vinegar and olive oil, so that you only add enough to balance with the amount of herbs in your sauce. Once you get familiar with the recipe, you’ll be able to build the sauce using the technique and your judgement.
Quality ingredients: The golden rule in cooking and baking is to always use the best ingredients you can afford. This is an even more important ‘rule’ when you are making a dish that does not involve cooking. Each ingredient needs to shine and can’t hide through cooking process. In this recipe it’s the red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, and to a lesser degree the Dijon mustard and anchovies, that are going to be your star ingredients.
Oxidation: Parsley is pretty resistant to oxidation but fresh basil can be a challenge as it is so fragile. As soon as you start chopping fresh basil the oxidation process will start. Then it’s a race against time to try and slow the oxidation process. The acid in the vinegar will help, as will covering the finished sauce with olive oil. Another culprit is thought to be overprocessing, so follow the steps and leave the basil to last. I find that if the basil looks old, dry and tough, you’re probably best not using it in a fresh sauce. It will not give you any joy and go brown almost immediately.
Resting chicken: Try and make time in your meal prep to rest the chicken for at least 10-15 minutes after it comes out of the oven. This allows the meat to relax the internal juices redistribute themselves back through the meat. There’s nothing more disappointing than cutting into a beautiful piece of chicken and seeing all the juices run off the cutting board.
Kitchen scale: If you are going to bake, you need a kitchen scale. It’s really in the necessity column not the optional column. You don’t need to spend a fortune on them, decent ones can be bought for about $70. The expensive ones break down just as quickly as the cheaper versions. But I would recommend you go for a known brand from a reputable kitchen shop.