The best roast chicken, ever

I read somewhere recently that one way to analyze your relationship with someone is to try to imagine how you would feel standing alone in their kitchen. Would you feel comfortable? Would you be worried about making a mess? Would you eat out of their fridge? Think about these questions, and you might have some answers.

I did this myself a few months back. Deep into the distancing of pandemic and with a daily urge to cook, I stood in someone else’s kitchen and felt like my presence there was somehow messing up an unspoken order. I realized that this was a kitchen where food was stored and reheated, and order was paramount. It was not a place of joy or creation or cooking, because these things are messy. 

So I went straight home and roasted a chicken, because what is more comforting than the smell of crispy skin and potatoes and thyme? Nothing. Some might argue that chicken is boring and I would tend to agree. But this chicken is special because it’s both juicy and aromatic thanks to the thyme, lemons and garlic that it’s stuffed with. And, even better: making it is super easy, and you can combine it with the pesto sauce and a simple green salad. If you have any leftovers, the chicken and pesto are also delicious in a sandwich the next day with a little mayonnaise. Happy roasting.

Cooking time: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 chicken
10 whole cloves of garlic (skins left on)
1 large lemon or several small lemons
A handful of fresh thyme stems
4 large tablespoons of butter
Olive oil
Sea salt
Around 1 kg of potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces

Parsley pesto sauce

2 large handfuls of parsley without the stems
2 cloves garlic peeled
A handful of grated hard cheese like parmesan or cheddar
Sea salt
½ cup cup of olive oil
A handful of almonds (you can also substitute with other nuts) 

Green salad

Handful of arugula
Olive oil
Salt
Lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees (this can vary depending on your oven). Wash and dry the chicken, making sure there is no moisture left on it; if it’s still damp, it won’t get crispy. Then generously rub the chicken with olive oil and sea salt, being careful not to break the skin. 

At the base of the chicken, next to the cavity, where the breasts are, you’ll find a spot on each side where you can use your finger to carefully make a gap between the skin and the flesh. Once you’ve done this, gently push knobs of butter into this spot on each side. (Note: you need to have short fingernails to do this.) Set the chicken aside and peel and cut the potatoes.

Place the potatoes and lemon in a pot of water and add plenty of salt. Boil for 10 minutes until the potatoes are just tender (but not falling apart). Drain the potatoes and leave them to dry out while you prepare the chicken. Poke a few fork holes in the lemon and stuff it inside the chicken along with the thyme and whole garlic cloves (with the skins still on).

Now place the chicken in a large enough roasting dish, in a way where it fits snugly but there is also enough room to add the potatoes later. Roast the chicken for 40 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, you can make the pesto sauce using a food processor, blender or pestle and mortar. I use a pestle and mortar and crush the parley, first with garlic and salt — the salt helps the parsley break down — and then with nuts. I add the cheese and oil at the end and stir until it’s all smooth. If you’re using a blender, add all the ingredients together, except the oil and cheese, which you can stir in at the end.

Just before the chicken is ready, dress the arugula with oil, salt and lemon juice. This dressing is a nice counterbalance to the richness of the butter and pesto. Take out the chicken and add the potatoes, rolling them into the juices until they are well-coated and roasting for another 40 minutes alongside the chicken. The way to tell if the chicken is ready is to poke a fork in a side and pull open the flesh and see if the meat is white and the juices run clear. If it’s not cooked properly, the meat will still be pink and the juices a little red.

When the chicken is ready, take it out of the oven and cover loosely with a piece of foil. Then leave it to rest for 15 minutes before carving. When it’s ready, carve and serve alongside the potatoes and a bowl of the pesto, drizzling the buttery lemon oil over the chicken.

Secrets to making this recipe work

Chicken: I don’t eat a lot of meat, so when I do, I try to get my hands on the most chemical-free bird I can because intensively farmed chicken are kept in terrible conditions, including being given antibiotics and growth hormones that we then eat. And health implications aside, you really can taste the difference between the two. Don’t throw out the bones at the end as these make the base for amazing stock. Instead, strip them of any meat and place in a bag in the freezer so you have it on hand when you want to make stock or soup.

In order to prevent the chicken from getting dry, monitoring temperature is important. Each oven is different, so make adjustments based on yours, but as a rule, 80-90 minutes is a good amount of time for cooking. And the resting will ensure the chicken remains juicy, so don’t be tempted to skip this step.  

Pesto: As well as being healthy because of the nuts, olive oil and parsley combination, this pesto is super versatile and adjustable. If you don’t have parsley, you can substitute with basil or arugula. Same goes with the nuts and cheese; you can improvise with whatever you have at home. And you can make extra and keep leftovers in the fridge to toss on some pasta or put in a sandwich later. It also goes well with roasted vegetables or fish. The options are endless.

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