Chicken skin canapés (lemon and thyme roast chicken)

Pollyanna Coupland

Chicken skin canapes (lemon thyme roast chicken)

Canapé
easy
Makes20
45 minutes, plus 1 hour straining time for the ricotta

PT45M

PT1H

This chicken skin canapé recipe is a work of pure genius. Taking arguably the best bit of the bird – the golden, crispy skin – and combining it with classic roast chicken flavours of thyme and lemon makes a unique and utterly addictive canapé for your next dinner party. If you're short on time, feel free to buy some good quality ricotta instead of making it from scratch.

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Chicken skin canapés
10 chicken skins, taken from 10 large thighs
1l gold top milk, or unpasteurised if you can get it
1 lemon, zest and juice
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked
flaky sea salt
black pepper

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Piping bags

First make the ricotta. Gently heat the milk, then squeeze a small lemon wedge into the milk to split it. Keep stirring until it starts to curdle and separate into curds and whey

Set a sieve over a bowl and place a muslin cloth in the sieve. Pour the mixture into the muslin, then gather up the corners of the cloth and tie together. Suspend over a bowl and leave to strain for an hour or so

Meanwhile, prepare the chicken skin. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

Lay the skins skin-side down and scrape off any excess fat and remaining meat from the insides. You should be left with just the thin outer skin

Lay the skins stretched out flat on a greaseproof-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with a pinch of flaky salt

Lay a second sheet of greaseproof paper over the skins then weigh down with another tray. Place in the oven for 10–15 minutes until golden and crisp

Drain the skins on kitchen roll and sprinkle with sea salt

Finely chop the rosemary and thyme, reserving the top leaves of the thyme to garnish

Once the ricotta is ready, transfer it to a bowl and whip with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Beat in the herbs, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, then transfer to a piping bag

Snap the skins down into bite-size pieces, then pipe the ricotta onto each piece and garnish with thyme leaves

Finish with a crack of black pepper and grating of lemon zest before serving

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