The photo shows double the recipe which I made to serve as part of a buffet at a birthday celebration. Aleppo pepper is sold in specialty shops such as The Essential Ingredient.

Instead of black garlic butter you can just use butter.

1 boneless whole chicken or 1 kg boneless chicken thighs
Juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes
2 Tbs Aleppo pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt to taste
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbs honey
2 Tbs finely chopped parsley
Pumpkin Puree:
½ a butternut pumpkin (about 1 kg)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2-3 Tbs black garlic butter (see note)
2 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
Fresh lime wedges

Peel pumpkin and cut into large chunks. Cook in boiling salted water until very tender, then puree in a food processor, adding salt, pepper and black garlic butter. This can be made ahead and reheated in a microwave or saucepan at serving time.

Trim chicken pieces of any excess fat. Place in bowl with remaining ingredients. Mix well, then leave to marinate for at least half an hour or overnight if that suits you.

Cook the drained chicken in a preheated oven 200°C for 20-30 minutes or on a BBQ – preferably a charcoal grill. If cooking in the oven, cook in a single layer and you may want to line the baking sheet with baking paper which comes up the sides a bit, to make the washing up easier. Burnt honey is always a pain to clean! Turn chicken once or twice during cooking time.

Heat the pumpkin puree and spread it thickly over a large serving dish. Slice cooked chicken and arrange on top. Garnish with spring onions and the lime wedges.

Serves 6

Note: black garlic is sold in specialty shops and farmer’s markets. Peel the cloves from two heads of garlic and whiz in a food processor with 250g butter, cut into chunks. When smooth scrape into a container. Serve with grilled steak or fish or mixed into pureed vegetables such as pumpkin or potatoes for a subtle sweet garlic flavour.