Lemon Chicken with Olives

If you love roast chicken (or chook) with oodles of lemon, green olives and rocket then this is the dish for you. I often call this recipe a heavenly baked chicken, with wonderful Mediterranean flavours all mopped up with tender pieces of sweet and natural potato.

Forgive me for calling a chicken the antipodean name of ‘chook’. This is an influence I cannot kick after my 12 years in Auckland, New Zealand!

25 minutes

1 hour

180º C

Ingredients

1 large whole chicken or 8 chicken pieces
2 large sweet potatoes

- washed and peeled
2 large potatoes

- washed and peeled
Extra virgin olive oil
Green Olive and Rocket Sauce
180g green olives

- pitted
3 generous handful of fresh rocket

- washed, coarsely chopped
100mls cider vinegar
2 tbsp honey

- runny
6 cloves of garlic

- peeled
2 lemons

- juice and rind
4 tbsp light soya sauce

Instructions

Prepare sauce:
01 Throw all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to a coarse puree. Set aside to be used later.
Prepare chicken:
02 Joint chicken into 8 pieces: brown in olive oil and a small knob of butter. Set aside.
Prepare the potatoes:
03 Wash and peel both types of potatoes: cut into thick ‘chip’ like pieces or chunks.
Assemble to bake:
04 Place the potatoes in a lightly oiled roasting tin or ceramic roasting dish. Add all chicken bar the breast, and roast for 25 minutes.
05 After 25 minutes remove from oven, turn chicken pieces and add the breast portions. Pour all over the green olive and rocket sauce and roast for a further 35-40 minutes.
To serve:
06 This dish is delicious served hot with a good mixed green salad.

Notes

For an extra lemon zing add large slices of lemon peel to the roasting tin at stage 5. The best gadget for this is a potato peeler. By the way, this sauce works so well if poured over chicken breasts, left to marinade (if time) and baked in the oven – just delicious!