Marcella Hazan’s roast chicken with lemon

1 HOUR 30 MINUTES | SERVES 6 | EASY | GF

A classic recipe from the great Italian food writer, Marcella Hazan, this couldn’t be simpler and works every time. I get such a thrill from the way that these very basic ingredients – chicken, lemons and seasoning – are transformed with no added fat and no fuss, just by heat. Marcella suggests cooking the chicken for 20 minutes per 450g, but I’ve reduced that to 15 minutes per 500g, plus another 15 minutes.

whole chicken 2kg

lemons 2

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Remove the excess fat from around the opening to the cavity of the chicken. Season well inside. Dry the skin of the chicken using kitchen paper to prevent the breast sticking to the tin.

• Roll the lemons on your worksurface to soften them, then prick all over with a skewer. Put these inside the bird and close the cavity using cocktail sticks. Tie the legs together, but not tightly (this stops them widening as the bird cooks, which can tear the skin). Season the outside.

• Put into a roasting tin or ovenproof dish – breast-side down – where it can lie without too much room around it (otherwise the juices just evaporate and burn). Roast for 30 minutes, then turn the bird breast-side up. Roast for another 30 minutes.

• Increase the oven temperature to 200C/ fan 180C/gas 6 and roast for another 15 minutes. The skin should be puffed up and golden, and the lemons should have made lovely cooking juices around the bird.

• Check that the bird is cooked – the juices that run from between the leg and the rest of the body should be clear, with no trace of pink. If there is some pink, cook for a few minutes more, then check again.

• Serve whole, carving it at the table and spooning the lemony cooking juices over each helping. It needs only the simplest accompaniments: good bread or little roasted potatoes and a green or tomato salad.

PER SERVING 400 KCALS | FAT 22.9G SATURATES 6.2G | CARBS 0.1G | SUGARS 0.1G FIBRE 0G | PROTEIN 48.3G | SALT 0.4G