Lemon Roast Chicken

This is how I roast our family chicken – most of the time, anyway. It’s remarkable for its simplicity and it produces perfect results every time.

For a moist, succulent, tender chicken, you need:

1.8kg chicken (About 4lbs)
1 lemon + one more
4 cloves garlic
1 onion, cut in quarters
100g butter
Lemon thyme, or ordinary thyme if that’s all you have

Look, no stuffing!

Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F

Puncture the lemon all over with a fork and stuff it inside the chicken with the onion and garlic, plus some of the lemon thyme.

Slice the butter into squares and then, starting from the cavity end, lift the skin off the breast slightly with your finger and push the butter under it. Don’t be afraid of it. You will find it quite easy to do but be careful not to tear the skin.

Rub some salt into the skin, scatter the remaining herbs in the roasting tin and sit the chicken on top of them.

Roast in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes, then take the chicken out of the roasting pan, put a rack in the pan and put the chicken on top of that. It will now be sitting above the juices.

Spoon some of them over the chicken to baste, reduce the oven temperature to 180°C, 350°F, and cook for a further 60 minutes.

Check that the bird is fully cooked either by using a thermometer (best) or by inserting a knife into the thickest part of the thigh. The juices should run clear.

Grate fresh black pepper over the breast, squeeze the other lemon over the chicken, add a little stock, white wine or water and return the chicken to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

Let the chicken rest while you make a lemon and thyme sauce with the strained juices from the roasting pan.

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