Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Skill Level: Easy
INGREDIENTS
- 1.6 kilo organic chicken
- 1 preserved lemon, roughly chopped
- 1 whole head garlic, cloves peeled
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- ½ bunch rosemary
- 1 bunch of flat parsley
- 3 sprigs fresh bay leaves
- 5 tablespoons of butter
- 1 tablespoon of sea salt flakes
For the courgette salad you’ll need
- 600g green and yellow courgettes (2 green and 2 yellow)
- 5 tablespoons of quality olive oil
- 60g of pine nuts
- 100g hard feta
- Juice from 1 lemon
- ¼ bunch of flat parsley
- ¼ bunch of fresh mint
METHOD
- Preheat your oven to 220°C.
- Place the butter, preserved lemon, 6 garlic cloves, your half bunch of picked thyme leaves, your quarter bunch of picked parsley leaves, and a half teaspoon of salt with some freshly ground black pepper in the food processor.
- Pulse it to form a rich and beautiful compound butter.
- Carefully insert your fingers between the skin and breasts of the chicken, moving all the way to the end of the breasts to create a pocket under the skin.
- Spread the butter under the skin on top of the breasts and then pull the skin back over the breasts.
- With the remaining butter, spread it over the legs and thighs.
- Place the remaining garlic INSIDE the chicken, along with a generous sprig of thyme and rosemary and about 3 bay leaves.
- Tuck the wings beneath the chicken.
- Truss the chicken legs together using kitchen twine or a bread tie to close the rear cavity.
- Line a roasting pan with the remaining thyme, rosemary, bay leaves.
- Sit the chicken on top of the herbs and garlic, drizzle it with fresh lemon juice and season it well with salt and pepper and then place it in the middle shelf of your oven.
- Roast your chicken for about 60 minutes, basting it every 15 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crisp, with juices running clear from the leg cavity.
- Once the chicken is cooked, rub it with the remaining butter and remove it from the pan.
- Cover it with foil to keep it warm.
- Take the herbs and garlic from the pan and bring the cooking juices to a simmer on the stovetop and cook until reduced by about half.
- For the courgettes, add the olive oil to the warm chicken juices in a large bowl.
- Add the courgette ribbons, pine nuts, salt, pepper and lemon juice and mix with your hands, then add the crumbled feta, fresh herbs and serve.
SHOPPING LIST
Golden Rooster
- 1.6 kilo organic chicken
Camberwell Market Fresh Fruit & Veg
- garlic
- fresh thyme
- rosemary
- flat parsley
- fresh bay leaves
- Fresh mint
- Green courgettes
- Yellow courgettes
- Lemons
Nick & Sue’s Gourmet Deli
- butter
- sea salt flakes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Hard feta
- Black pepper
Sweeties Fruit & Nuts
- Pine nuts
