Easy Chicken Dinner
Roast spatchcock (butterfly) chicken with a medley of vegetables is definitely one of my most favourite ‘chicken dinners’. With this easy recipe all you do is literally ‘throw’ all the ingredients into a large roasting pan, place the spatchcock chicken on the top and smother everything with oil, lemon, seasonings etc and roast in a hot oven. How easy is that. By the way I often serve this delicious roast straight from roasting tin, as everyone can then dig in and scoop up the lovely, oily baked veggies beautifully cooked in the chicken juices. Simply delicious.
Ingredients
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1 large whole chicken- 1.2 kg or thereabouts
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Medley of Vegetables
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2 whole carrots- peeled, top and tailed, cut into thick 8-10cm chunks
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2 red onions- skin removed, root removed and quartered
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2 potatoes- peeled and cut into 8-10cm thick fingers
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2 whole sweetcorn kernels- washed and cut into chunks
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2 Whole Thai red chillies- optional
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Seasonings
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Extra virgin olive oil
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Sea salt
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Coarsely ground black pepper
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1 large lemon- juiced and flesh cut into chunks
Instructions
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Prepare the chicken:
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01 Firstly check over the chicken to see it is clean and the carcass empty. Spatchcock the chicken i.e cut down the back bone and flatten out (butterfly).
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Prepare vegetables:
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02 Wash, clean and trim all vegetables, cutting into large pieces for roasting. Try to keep all the root vegetables the same size - approximately 8-10cm in length.
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Assemble to roast:
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03 Lightly oil a large roasting tin. Cover the base with all the vegetables. Place the chicken on top and smother with all the lovely seasonings etc. Finish lastly with the lemon and lemon juice.
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Roast:
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04 Place the tin in a moderate oven and roast until the vegetables are soft and the chicken golden brown all over. Test with a sharp knife to make sure the juices from the chicken run clear.
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Serve:
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05 Either take to the table in the roasting tin or transfer all the contents to a large platter. Serve hot.
Notes
For this recipe I like to spatchcock or butterfly the chicken as this makes it easier to carve and serve. I also recommend to keep the vegetables around the same size (approximately 8-10cm or so) as this will help them all cook evenly and be ready to eat at the same time.
