subject: Chicken and Roasted Vegetables With Garlic and Rosemary [print this page] Chicken and Roasted Vegetables With Garlic and Rosemary
This is an easy Sunday or midweek roast as it all cooks in one roasting tin, less washing up! And although it uses a large 2 kilo chicken, roasting it jointed into 2 halves means that it cooks in around 45 minutes. This meal can be cooked in a money saving way, just switch gas and electricity suppliers to get the best deal.
This recipe is adapted from one of my mother's favourite and I've just sent her a bouquet of roses to say thank you. Online Floral Delivery made it easy for me to send flower USA.
Ingredients
2 kilo Organic or Corn Fed Chicken
2 Courgettes
2 Carrots
1 small Butternut Squash
2 large potatoes
10 cloves of Garlic
2 tablespoons of Rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons of Lemon Thyme leaves
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Method
Start by preparing the chicken. To cut the chicken in half lengthways, using a sharp knife, cut along the middle of the breast following the breast bone for guidance and cut through the rib bones with a sharp pair of kitchen scissors. Then turn the chicken over and cut along one side of the back bone with the scissors. Cut slits through the skin and meat with a sharp knife and this is where you will rub in the herb paste.
Make the herb paste by finely chopping the rosemary and lemon thyme leaves and mix this with 6 of the garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped. Rub this mixture into the cuts that you have made into the skin and meat of the chicken. Splash 1 tablespoon of the extra virgin olive oil over the chicken and brush over the skin. Sprinkle the chicken halves with the sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Peel the carrots and cut into 1 inch pieces. Leave the skin on the courgettes and cut then into 1 inch pieces. Halve the butternut squash and remove the pips before cutting in to 1 inch pieces. (personally I leave the skin on but remove it if you prefer)
Put all of the vegetables into a large baking tin along with the remaining 4 cloves of garlic which you can leave unpeeled. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and mix together to coat every piece on all sides. Season with more sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Spread the vegetables out to a single layer in the pan and place the chicken halves on the top, skin side up.
Roast in a pre-heated oven at 400F/200C/Gas6 for 35 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven after around 15 to 20 minutes and baste over the chicken with the juices from the bottom of the pan. At the end of the 35 minutes, check that the chicken is cooked through by piercing the thickest part of the meat and checking that the juices run clear. If not then cook for another 5 minutes and re-test.
Then cut each half of the chicken into 3 pieces and put back onto the vegetables and back into the oven for another 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the roasting tin form the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
