Rosemary Roast Chicken

There’s something more than delicious about a traditional roast chicken meal. There’s a sense of comfort, satisfaction and merriment all tied in to it. It’s nice to experiment with flavours but it’s also comforting to stick to the usual beautiful basics like rosemary.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Size 20 chicken
180ml olive oil
25g minced garlic
3g chopped fresh rosemary
3g chopped fresh basil
5g Italian seasoning
2g ground black pepper
salt to taste

Method

1. Combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, basil, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt. Set aside (preferably overnight).
2. Wash the chicken, inside and out, pat dry. Remove any large fat deposits. Loosen the skin from the breast. This is done by slowly working your fingers between the breast and the skin. Work it loose to the end of the drumstick being careful not to tear the skin.
3. Using your hand spread a generous amount of the rosemary mixture under the breast skin and down the thigh and leg. Rub the remainder of the rosemary mixture over the outside of the breast. Use toothpicks to seal skin over any exposed breast meat.
4. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Add about 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the pan. Roast according to the number of pounds your chicken weighs.

This roast chicken recipe goes superbly with fresh roasted vegetables.