I’d had chicken with a creamy walnut sauce at a Georgian restaurant before and liked it, but wanted something with a fresher taste. Dill being the herb I associate the most with Russian/Georgian food, thought I’d add it into the mix, to make a sort of eastern-european inspired pesto. This nutty sauce went with some plainly grilled organic chicken thighs with the skin on when I was having a night at home watching a trashy detective mystery.
Serves two
Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
For the sauce:
handful of walnuts
handful of fresh dill
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
juice ½ lemon
½ tablespoon wine vinegar
½ clove garlic (optional)
salt
How I made it:
Turn the grill on high. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper and rub with a bit of olive oil. Put under the grill, turn every 5 minutes until cooked, this skin should be crispy and golden, and the meat should be juicy and when cut to the bone, the juices should run clear with no pink or bloody bits – about 20 minutes in total. Blend all of the sauce ingredients together in a blender. Taste for seasoning – adjust salt and lemon juice accordingly. Spoon the sauce over the chicken when it is cooked.
Eaten with:
Potatoes and runner beans.
NB: This sauce would work well as a walnut pesto to go with pasta too.