Herb butter & chickpea roast chicken
With some beautiful balsamic roast veggies
Welcome to the only roast chicken recipe you’ll ever need - no fuss and absolutely delicious. My boyfriend loves this recipe and I swear it has almost gotten him down on one knee !
You’ll need:
1 x whole roast chicken (just over 1kg to 1.5 kg)
1 x 400g can chickpeas
1-2 lemons ( juice + zest)
Handfuls of herbs (parsley, thyme & rosemary)
6 garlic cloves
Approx 125g unsalted butter (room temp)
White potatoes, skin on (allocate 1-2 per person)
1 x big sweet potato
1x beetroot
2 x carrots
Balsamic vinegar
Danish feta (optional, but also delicious if included. Enough to crumble)
1/3 cup Sunflower seeds or pepitas (again, optional but delicious to include)
Olive oil, salt & pepper
Method:
Pre heat oven to 190 degrees Celsius and arrange oven racks so the oven is split in half.
To assemble herb butter, in a food processor place a half of the thyme, parsley and rosemary. Add all of the butter, 3 garlic gloves, large pinch of salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and zest (to liking). Blitz until smooth. Set aside.
Next, cut white potatoes in halves or quarters, and place into a large bowl. Drain liquid from chickpeas and add the chickpeas to the bowl. Drizzle potatoes and chickpeas generously with olive oil. Add remaining herbs to this mix, as well as a generous grind of salt. Mix until coated. Spread this mix onto the roasting tray - leaving space for the chicken centre stage in the middle.
To prepare the chicken, pat dry with paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Slice two small incisions on each side of where the drumstick joins to the body of the chicken (this helps the chicken cook faster). The chicken should be placed on its front. Separate the chicken skin from the body of the chicken, by gently pushing your fingers between the two layers. Into the cavity of the chicken, insert 1-2 lemon wedges and about 1/3 of the herb butter mixture. With the next 1/3 of the buttery herb mixture, spread it underneath and on top of the chicken skin. With the remaining 1/3 of the herb butter, dollop this around the roasting tray. Add remaining garlic cloves and lemon to the mix.
The chicken is all ready for the oven - place on top rack for approximately 1 hour.
To prepare the roast vegetables, slice vegetables into 3-4 cm chunks. Try to keep them all roughly the same size so they cook evenly. Place into a new roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar. Place into oven until roast chicken is done.
10 minutes before the chicken and roast vegetables are finished, place a dry frypan on the stove (no oil) and add sunflower/pepita seeds. Toast until golden brown and a nutty aroma fills the air.
To serve, carve the chicken and distribute chickpeas and potatoes. Sprinkle seeds over the roast vegetable tray. Mix. Crumble feta. Mix again. Serve balsamic roast vegetables.
Enjoy xx