The minute we saw this recipe for making Pollo al Mattone – Chicken Under A Brick, we knew we had to try it out. What’s different about this recipe is that it uses a large iron skillet instead of a brick. The method does double duty as it grills the chicken on the grill and the potatoes in the hot iron skillet.
Pollo al Mattone with Grilled Potatoes in Cast-Iron Skillet
History
This method of cooking chicken is really old — as in ancient. There are pictures in Etruscan frescoes of chicken on what looks like grills and the birds are being weighed down by stones to flatten them.
The Etruscan era ended around 500 B.C. but, hey, if a cooking method like pollo al mattone works well, why change it?
Pollo Al Mattone with Fresh Thyme, Rosemary, Sage and Tarragon in Cavity
Why use the method
We’ve been butterflying {spatchcocking} chicken for a long time, if you need a refresher course on how to do it, you can find it here.
We always found that grilling a butterflied chicken, made the meat cook evenly and fast.
Cast-Iron Skillet Heating on Direct heat for Pollo al Mattone
How to do it
This is really a very easy method to prepare the chicken — don’t be intimidated, it is very easy to do.
First we prepare the grill is for indirect heat– that is with the charcoal on one side. If you need to see how we do it you can find the entire instructions here, when we made pulled pork.
We use this technique many times when grilling meats such as pork and chicken.
The beauty of doing a pollo al mattone is that by using the cast iron skillet or a mattone is that the chicken not only cooks evenly but the skin gets extra-crispy.
How to season
The seasoning is very simple –we use sprigs of thyme, rosemary, sage and tarragon from our garden, and a little bit of kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, olive oil and lemons.
Cast Iron Skillet With Potatoes is Placed On Top Of The Chicken to Flatten It
Preparing grill
Once the grill is up 300° F to 350°F we put the cast iron skillet on the hot side of the grill for 10 minutes.
Then we add olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet and toss in the russet potatoes that we cut in 1 1/2″ chunks and we season them with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken
We move the skillet to the cool portion of the grill and place the chicken skin side down on the grill. The sprigs of herbs are on the inside cavity of the chicken.
The cast iron skillet with the potatoes goes on the chicken to flatten it for about 10 to 15 minutes with the grill covered.
Chicken is Moved to the Unlit Portion of the Grill
Next we remove the skillet and transfer the chicken to the unlit portion of the grill.
We again place the cast iron skillet over the chicken.
The Cast Iron Skillet is Placed on the Chicken Now over Indirect Heat
We cover the grill and cook for around 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 165°F.
For extra crispy skin
We remove the chicken from the grill and let it stand 5 minutes. ( For crisper skin, place chicken on lit side of grill, and grill without lid for about 5 minutes or until the skin reaches your crispy preference).
Pollo al Mattone is Resting Before It is Cut
Char the lemons
When the chicken is resting, we place the halved lemons cut side down, on lit side of grill, and grill, covered with lid, about 5 minutes or until charred and softened. We serve them with the pollo al mattone and potatoes.
Our Menu For The Evening: Pollo al Mattone with Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans Almondine
The meat turned out as promised — by grilling the meat first over the heat and flattening it . . . then cooking it for the remainder of the time over indirect heat, the meat cooked evenly and didn’t dry out.
It was perfect.
Guide For Spatchcocking chicken
Tutti a tavolo è pronto!
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We love our heavy duty cast 12- inch iron skillet. It is a workhorse and it gives us such great results. Here it did heavy duty as a brick and as a skillet for the potatoes.
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Chicken under a brick recipe
Pollo al Mattone { Chicken Under A Brick}
Ingredients
- 1 pound russet potatoes cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
- 1 3 to 4 pound whole chicken
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil divided
- Freshly ground black pepper and Kosher salt
- 12 fresh herb sprigs we used 3 each of thyme, rosemary,sage, tarragon
- 2 lemons halved
Equipment Needed
Instructions
- Remove and discard giblets and neck from the chicken and rinse the bird thoroughly under cold water.Pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Remove excess skin, fat, the wing tip and the little tail part at the bottom. Keeping the chicken in the same position, slide your knife on either side of the neck, pull it back and cut that portion off. Using kitchen shears, cut chicken down the center of the backbone.Open the chicken as you would a book. Turn the chicken, breast side down, and using a sharp knife make a slit on either side of the keel bone, then bend breasts back to spread the cuts. Once the keel bone is loose, separate it from the skin and then pull out. Put the chicken on platter and rub with 1 Tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. The chicken should be breast side down on the platter. Place the herbs in the cavity side of the chicken and cover with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator until you’re ready to start the grill.You can prepare the chicken several hours ahead of time.
- When you’re ready, heat 1 side of grill to 300 F to 350 F (medium) heat; leave other side unlit. Remove chicken from refrigerator.
- Once the grill is ready heat a 12-inch cast iron skillet on the lit side of grill for 10 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to hot skillet; place potatoes in skillet and season with salt and pepper. Transfer skillet to the unlit side of the grill.
- Slide the prepared chicken, breast side down, over the lit side of grill. Place the cast iron skillet with potatoes on the chicken to flatten it. Grill, covered with grill lid, for 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is browned. Remove the skillet. Transfer the chicken to the unlit side of the grill. Place the cast iron skillet on the chicken. Grill, covered with grill lid, for 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion of breast registers 165 F. Remove the chicken from the grill, and let it stand for 5 minutes. (For crisper skin, place the chicken on the lit side of the grill, and grill, without the grill lid, 5 minutes or until crisp.)
- Meanwhile, place lemons, cut side down, on lit side of grill, and grill covered with grill lid, about 5 minutes or until charred and softened. Serve chicken with potatoes and charred lemon.
Notes
- Note: You can find additional pictures and instructions on how to butterfly a chicken and how to prepare a grill for indirect heat in previous posts. Follow the links in this post.
- Inspired by Southern Living – October 2014 “Cast Iron Love”
Nutrition
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Trish Bozeman says
I love trying out ancient ways of cooking! It always feels like I’m getting far from the processed reality of food these days, which feels great. Looks fantastic!
Marisa Franca says
Thank you, Trish! It really is amazing how it turns out – the skin is perfect on the chicken.
Debra says
I see this on restaurant menus all the time. I always imagined an actual (and dirty) brick! Using a cast iron pan makes so much sense….since they feel like they weigh a ton of bricks…LOL. This looks totally doable and those fresh herbs…YUM.
Dana says
I love a recipe with a neat history lesson or story behind it! As soon as I read “chicken under a brick” my mind went straight to ancient times. But really, this is so efficient. Cooking your chicken and potatoes at the same time, stacked… I dig it!
Jenni LeBaron says
I’ve never heard of this technique for cooking chicken, but I totally want to try it now. I love that it allows the chicken to get a nice crispness on both sides. I love the simple seasoning for this chicken and I think the potatoes are the perfect pairing, but then, when are potatoes not the perfect pairing? DELICIOUS!
Marisa Franca says
Thank you, Jenni! The chicken turns out great every single time. xoxo
[email protected] says
First of all, can I suggest that we call this “Bricken” in English? Second, I love how simple and distinctive this recipe is. The herbs are perfect with chicken, and the cooking method keeps things so nice and even. It’s a very cool recipe. Thanks for introducing me to it! Cheers!
Sandra says
Love all the fresh herbs in this dish and so smart to use a cast iron skillet. That is one of my favorite cooking tools. We’ve been grilling all summer and bookmarked this to cook this week.
Sarah says
This is an amazing idea! Cast iron pans are HEAVY, and it probably works even better than a big rock. Plus you get a side dish– win win!!
Gloria says
I have NEVER tried this…but it sure looks like FUN. Hubby will be doing some grilling this weekend. I think I will give him a challenge…and see what he can do.
Stephanie Simmons says
This is brilliant! At first I was like ummmm I don’t own any bricks – lol! But I DO have a skillet – and I love that it turns into a multi-tasker in this recipe! Can’t wait to give it a try!
Jyothi (Jo) says
I’m in love with recipes like this. It’s a gem. Chicken under a brick, just sound of it makes me so happy and I so wish I could give this wonderful recipe a try. Book marking it to try for later
Tammy says
Wow, wow, wow! I’ve never seen this method before but I cannot wait to try it out! What an absolutely brilliant idea, Marisa! 😀
Valerie says
I’ve never seen or heard of chicken under a brick before. Cooking it that way certainly makes for a nice looking presentation!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
I have never heard of chicken under a brick before, but I am really intrigued right now! This looks so good!
Claudia Lamascolo says
what a great tip I will surely try this and I love chicken and never used this method or heard of it.. Thanks for posting.. going to print this off I think its super!
Noel Lizotte says
This looks fabulous! Like fancy and difficult and all that … but it sounds so simple. I’m thinking I’ll make this for the next bbq gathering and impress all the neighbors!
Rosemary @anitalianinmykitchen says
Oh my gosh Marisa, I am going to do this for sure when the weather warms up, looks so good!
Jovina Coughlin says
Great post. I have always used a brick when I made this dish. I will have to try your method.
Marisa Franca @Allourway says
We always wanted to try it but was one of those things of getting a brick– we had plenty but they were in the ground with another purpose. This recipe seemed just right to try! Let me know how it goes.