The amount of garlic in the marinade may seem a little excessive at first, but please do try it, as the sweet, delicate flavour is simply fantastic. You don’t want to lose this by burning it, so it’s really important to grill these skewers over a gentle heat. This is a great recipe to make ahead, as you can confit the garlic cloves a day or two in advance of making the marinade and marinate the chicken for up to 48 hours before cooking.

Makes: 6 skewers
Takes: 40 mins, plus at least 1 hr marinating

INGREDIENTS
800g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into large pieces (or left whole if oven-roasting)

For the confit garlic
1-2 heads of garlic, broken into cloves but unpeeled
100ml vegetable oil

For the marinade
1 batch of confit garlic cloves
1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
1 heaped tsp flaky sea salt
zest of half a lemon (use the juice on the cooked chicken shish)
3-4 tbsp garlicky confit oil

METHOD

1. For the confit garlic, place the unpeeled garlic cloves in a small pan or metal tray and cover with the oil. You may need a touch more, depending on the size of the pan – it should be enough to just cover the cloves. Set on the side of the grill where there's the lowest heat (or set it over a very low heat on the stove) and slowly bring to a boil. Once bubbles start to appear, cook for 10 mins, then remove from the heat and set aside in the pan to soften and cool entirely. You can store the cooled garlic and oil in the fridge for up to 48 hours before using.
2. To make the marinade, lift the cooled cloves out of the oil (reserving it for later) and squeeze to pop the flesh out of the skins and into a small bowl. Discard the skins. Use the back of a spoon to smash the confit garlic into a pulp, then stir in the chopped parsley, salt, lemon zest, 3-4 tbsp of the garlicky oil and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Pour over the chicken pieces, mix well to coat, then thread the meat onto skewers. Place in the fridge and leave to marinate for at least 1 hr, or up to 48 hrs.
3. When you're ready to cook, get the barbecue nice and mellow. Grill the skewers for 5 mins on one side, then flip and cook for 5 mins on the other side. Dab any remaining marinade or, if there’s none left, some garlicky confit oil on the chicken, flip once more and cook for a final 5 mins. Remove from the grill and squeeze the lemon juice all over them before serving.

Recipe from Chasing Smoke: Cooking over Fire Around the Levant by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich (Pavilion Books)