Ingredients
(makes a whole chicken)
- 1 lemon
- 30g of butter, cubed
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 whole chicken (innards and neck removed)
- 15 garlic cloves, bruised
- 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
- 2 to 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- sea salt
- 1 tbsp garlic powder (optional)
- freshly cracked black pepper
Tools
- kitchen twine
- wire rack
- oven tray
- pastry brush
Directions
1. Grate some lemon zest from the lemon skin. Set aside the lemon.
2. In a small bowl, mix cubed butter, chopped parsley and lemon zest together to form a paste.
3. Place chicken on a flat chopping board, breast side up. For aesthetics, tuck the wings under the chicken and tie the thighs together using kitchen twine.
4. Carefully pull the top chicken skin (where the breast portion is – see photo above) and slowly stuff the paste made in step 2 under the chicken skin. Be careful not to tear the chicken skin while doing so.
5. Cut lemon in two and microwave for 40 seconds. Carefully use the tip of a small knife to prick all over the lemon. Squeeze the lemon juices into the cavity and put the whole lemon inside (technique learnt from Jamie Oliver’s recipe).
6. Besides the lemon, stuff the cavity with thyme, garlic, rosemary and bay leaves. If you have leftover herbs, sprinkle them around the pan or on the chicken.
7. Brush the chicken skin all over with olive oil. Season chicken with salt, garlic powder and black pepper.
8. Rest the chicken, breast side up, on a wire rack sitting on a bigger roasting tray to collect the chicken juices (see second photo above). Bake chicken in preheated oven at 200°C (400°F) for about 40 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven and brush the chicken with the juices that are collected in the drip pan. If there are not enough juices, use olive oil.
9. Return tray to oven and bake for another 30 minutes, increasing the oven heat to 220°C during the last 10 minutes. The roasting time may differ with your oven, but basically you should roast until the chicken is nicely golden brown.
