Photography: John Paul Urizar. Styling: Michele Cranston.
Maggie Beer’s roasted chicken will be your new favourite roast to break out on special occasions like Christmas, or for a big family gathering or dinner party.
The chicken is deliciously succulent, and the roasted potatoes marvellously crisp. And we can’t forget the best part – the stuffing! This roasted chicken has a traditional herbed stuffing that combines the winning flavours of pancetta, garlic, rosemary, lemon thyme, walnuts and sourdough breadcrumbs.
Ingredients
Method
Take the chicken out of the refrigerator one hour before cooking.
STUFFING Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat, add the pancetta and cook, stirring, until browned lightly and crisp. Remove from pan. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the same pan. Once hot, add the chicken livers and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate and leave to rest for 5 minutes, then remove and discard any sinew and chop into small chunks. Pour the remaining olive oil into the same pan and place over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 10 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme and cook for just a minute, then transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs, walnuts and mix well, then add the liver and pancetta and gently stir to just combine. Add some extra oil if necessary to bind the mixture, season to taste, then set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced).
Place the potatoes into a large pot of salted cold water over a high heat, bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes or until almost cooked through. Remove from the heat and drain into a colander, then shake to rough up the surface of the potatoes. Place the potatoes onto a lined baking tray, drizzle with the olive oil and dot over the butter, then set aside.
Wipe the skin of the chicken and clean the inside cavity with paper towel. Squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice into the cavity, then fill it with the cooled Stuffing. Rub the chicken all over with half the olive oil and season generously with sea salt flakes.
Place a trivet or a greased wire rack in a shallow roasting pan. Fold the wing tips under the chicken and tie the legs together with kitchen string, then place on the rack, breast-side up. Roast for 40 minutes then brush the breast with the remaining oil and drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the verjuice. Add a little water to the pan to prevent the verjuice from burning.
Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Return the chicken to the oven along with the potatoes and cook for a further 40 minutes. Check the chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer through the thickest part of the thigh joint to make sure the juices run clear.
Remove the roasted chicken from the oven and turn it over in the pan so that it is breast-side down, drizzling with remaining verjuice. Cover with foil and leave it to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
Turn the potatoes, add the rosemary leaves and roast for a further 25 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
Serve the roasted chicken with the potatoes.
Do I need to rest my roasted chicken after removing from oven?
The short answer is, yes! In the words of Maggie Beer, “Always rest the chook breast-side down for at least 20 minutes after cooking. Don’t skimp on the resting time – a well-rested chook will be infinitely more moist and flavoursome than one served immediately after cooking.”
