Who doesn’t love a good homemade Sunday roast? We bought this 2kg chicken from the local butcher. I never cooked a whole chicken so I thought why not trying!
Roast chicken is a classic in the Italian culinary tradition, normally served with roasted potatoes (I still have to find the courage to make Yorkshire pudding for a proper British roast!!!)
I stuffed the chicken with a small onion, 2 garlic cloves, 3 lemon wedges, a rosemary sprig, and plenty of salt and pepper. I prepared a mixture of salt, pepper, herbs (sage, thyme and rosemary), butter and oilve oil, which I rubbed on the skin and under the skin of breast and thighs. Final result: superb!
A 2kg chicken would normally cook in 2 hours (count one hour of cooking time per chilo) and feed 4-6 people. This means we will eat chicken for the rest of the week! 😅
Sunday Roast Chicken
Ingredients
For the stuffing
For the rub
Instructions
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Preheat oven at 180C. Make sure your chicken is cleaned inside and skin is free from any feathers.
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Finely chop the herbs for the rub mixture and place them in a small bowl. Add the salt, pepper and mix them well. With your hands gently separate the skin from the meat of the breast – you can help yourself by making a small cut, leaving the skin attached in the middle. In this way, you'll create two little tunnels on either side of the breast. Insert a quarter of the herbs mixture in each side (you will use the remaining mixture for the skin itself) and a tbsp of butter in each side. Rub well from the outside and spread the butter and herbs all over the breast's underskin.
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Insert the stuffing ingredients in the chicken cavity and season well with salt and pepper. Take the little winglets under, and tie up as firmly as possible.
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Sprinkle the olive oil on the chicken skin and rub all over together with the remaining herbs mixture. Place the chicken on a tray lined with baking paper and pour a splash of white wine on the chicken. Place in the oven and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning frequently (I did it every 20 minutes) and brushing the skin with its juices so that it doesn't dry out.
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In the meantime wash the potatoes and cut them in halves. Season them with a generous tbsp of olive oil and 2 pinches of salt (coat them well with oil). Once the 1 hour 15 min have passed, add the potatoes to the same baking tray of the chicken and cook for another 45 minutes (continue to turn the chicken frequently, brushing the skin with its juices so that it doesn't dry out)
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Once the chicken and potatoes are nicely roasted, place on a nice serving plate or tray. Collect the juices in a small jar and serve it as gravy.
