Recipe: Roast chicken

Serve with whatever takes your fancy.

How to do Sunday lunch perfectly.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 x 1.5kg chicken, giblets removed
1 lemon, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, whole
15g fresh thyme
4 sprigs parsley
2 tbsp (30ml) olive oil
2 onions, quartered
2 carrots, peeled and halved
2 leeks, halved
salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to 200°C

Rinse chicken under cold running water and pat dry with some kitchen paper.

Place two cloves of garlic, a few sprigs thyme, pinch of salt and pepper into a pestle and mortar and crush to a coarse paste. Stir in olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and set aside.

Stuff cavity of the chicken with the remaining two cloves of garlic, thyme, parsley and lemons. Rub the flavoured olive oil all over the chicken until well coated and using some string, truss chicken to keep its shape during cooking.

Place onions, carrots and leeks onto the base of a roasting tray and place chicken on top. Place chicken in oven and cook for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 180°C and continue roasting for a further 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked and golden brown. To check if chicken is cooked, insert a metal skewer into the thigh of the bird and if juices run clear, the chicken is done.

Remove chicken from oven and leave to rest in a warm place covered with foil for 10 minutes before carving.

Serve chicken with roast potatoes and gravy.

Wine pairing:
A whole roasted chicken lends itself both to wooded white or red – you can’t really go wrong.

• Recipe supplied by Source Food – a Cape Town-based food agency that specializes in experiential marketing. They will create a recipe or meal to communicate your brand’s message.