I think a roast chicken is probably the best go-to dinner party dish — it’s impressive but actually such low maintenance, so this is definitely one you’ll want up your sleeve over dinner party season. I usually makes this in the spring with lots of wild garlic but it works really well around this time of year with whichever soft herbs you have lying around. Blitzing the herbs together with the olive oil, garlic and lemon essentially creates a kind of pesto that you then rub all over the chicken and let do its thing. Trust me, it ups your roast chicken game!
Serves: 4-6
Photography: Safia Shakarchi
Season: Autumn/Year-Round
Ingredients
1.5kg whole chicken
20g parsley
20g basil
2 large cloves garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
40ml olive oil
Flaky sea salt and pepper
1 red onion, quartered
1 white onion, quartered
Method
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Preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan.
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Place the herbs, garlic cloves, lemon zest and olive oil into the bowl of a food processor. Season generously with flaky sea salt and black pepper and blitz to a rough paste. Scrape down the bowl and add more olive oil if needed.
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Prepare the chicken by running your finger in between the skin and the flesh over the breast and legs – this creates little pockets for you to squeeze in the herby sauce and get all the flavour in. You might need to cut a little hole at the very end of the breast and legs as a starting point.
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Rub half the herby olive oil sauce in between the skin and flesh, and then rub the outside of the chicken all over with the remaining half.
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Place the quartered onions into the base of your baking dish or ideally a dutch oven if you have one. Lay the chicken on top of the onions.
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Roast in the middle shelf of the oven for 15 minutes at 220°C before turning the heat down to 190°C and cooking for a further 1 hour-1.5 hours or until the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through.
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Remove from the oven and allow the chicken to rest on a board or platter for 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve with lots of delicious sides.
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