Tuscan Chicken Under a Brick

With its crispy skin and juicy, flavorful meat, Tuscan Chicken Under a Brick, or pollo al mattone, is a must-make. And despite its name, you don’t need a brick to make it – you can get by using a heavy pan instead.

True Rustic Tuscan Cooking

One of the things I love most about Italian cuisine, and specifically dishes that hail from Tuscany, is that so few ingredients are needed. Whether it’s Peposo, Steak Tagliata, or this Tuscan Brick Chicken, it’s all about letting the few ingredients shine.

Tuscan chicken under a brick starts with a spatchcocked whole chicken that’s marinated with lemon and herbs, then cooked in a heavy pan (or on the grill) with a foil-wrapped brick (or, in my case, I used a heavy pan) on top to help flatten and sear the chicken. This method yields super crispy skin that, in plain English, is pure joy to the taste buds.

A simple arugula salad would make a great side, as would creamy polenta or crispy roasted potatoes with lemon and garlic.

Recipe Ingredients

All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.

• Chicken. You’ll need a whole young chicken, and you’ll need to spatchcock it, similar to my spatchcock rosemary chicken and potatoes. Sometimes the grocery store will sell chickens that are already spatchcocked, so that is an option if you want to save time.
• Herbs. Fresh rosemary and sage (not pictured) are preferred.
• Lemon. Fresh lemon juice is a key flavor in the marinade for my Tuscan brick chicken.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to make Tuscan Chicken

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. Use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone from the chicken and either discard or save to make homemade chicken stock.
2. Press down on the chicken to flatten it.

3. In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, sage, and rosemary.
4. Place the chicken in a large baking dish and use your hands to spread the marinade all over both sides of the chicken. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight, flipping the chicken halfway through.
5. 1 hour before roasting, remove the chicken from the fridge and place it on a wire rack or baking sheet. Save the marinade for later on. After 1 hour, pat the chicken dry to remove any moisture.
6. Preheat the oven to 450°F and set the rack to the middle level. Heat a cast iron or stainless steel pan to medium-high heat with a 1/4 cup of olive oil, and once shimmering, pat the chicken dry once more and carefully place it skin-side down into the oil.

7. Place a foil-wrapped brick or a smaller-sized cast-iron pan onto the chicken and press it down into the oil. Fry the chicken for 5-7 minutes or until nicely browned, then place in the oven. Note: The pan plus the wrapped brick/pan will be very heavy.
8. After 20 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and flip it over in the pan. Pour the saved marinade on top of the chicken, followed by the foil-wrapped brick/pan, and move back to the oven to roast for another 15-20 minutes or until the center of the breast reaches 160°F internally when checked with an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

More chicken recipes

• Rao’s-style broiled lemon chicken
• Garlic butter roast chicken
• Homemade rotisserie chicken