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Cooking a fresh pizza in an Ooni is one of chef, food writer and teacher Gill Meller's favourite pastimes. He also knows that it’s good to mix it up every so often. As an outdoor enthusiast based in Dorset, and author of “Outside: Cooking Outdoors - Recipes for the Wild,”...
Method
Take the chicken out of the fridge 2 hours before cooking to allow it to get close to room temperature.
Light your oven with good quality lumpwood charcoal and a natural firelighter. Initially, you’re looking for a relatively low heat, so aim for around 175 °C (350 °F) on your baking stone. You can check this quickly, accurately, and safely with an infrared thermometer.
While the oven’s getting up to temperature, arrange the chicken pieces, skin side up, in a large roasting tray. Scatter the potatoes around the chicken and trickle over the olive oil. Slice the lemon into ¼-inch (½-centimetre) rounds and arrange these randomly around the chicken. Sprinkle over the fennel seeds and chilli flakes and add in the bay leaves. Season everything with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Set the chicken in the middle of the oven and bake, turning the tray occasionally with your oven gloves on and giving the potatoes a turn to ensure they are getting evenly cooked, for 40 to 45 minutes. It’s crucial you monitor the heat during this first stage. A nice gentle cook is what you’re after here. Big rolling flames are not on the agenda.
After 40 to 45 minutes, take the tray of chicken out of the oven and give the potatoes a little turn with a spatula. Raise the heat of the oven to about 220 °C (430 °F). But again, avoid any fierce rolling flames over the ceiling of the Ooni.
Baste the chicken with the lemony roasting juices. Roughly chop the wild garlic (or, if you are using bulb garlic and parsley, stir in a couple of thinly sliced cloves and some chopped parsley) and scatter it over the potatoes and chicken.
Return the tray to the oven and let everything cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is golden and the potatoes are crisping up nicely.
Remove the tray from the oven and let the dish rest for 5 minutes. Slice, serve and enjoy!
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