Gino D'Acampo's roasted chicken recipe

Gino D'Acampo's roasted chicken is a simple but delicious take on this classic, with plenty of fresh herbs and a decadent dose of garlic. 

Roast chicken might feel like a quintessentially British dish, but it's popular around the world, and not least in the D'Acampo household. Gino says this is a typical Sunday lunch for his family, "My boys absolutely love this dish and it doesn't take any time to prepare so you can enjoy your weekend while it's cooking." The time it takes to cook will vary depending on the size of chicken you use - see our tips below for a guide on what to aim for, depending on how many people you are serving up to. Allow time for the chicken to rest before serving too - time the roast around the potatoes, as these are the trickiest ingredient to hold back once they are ready to eat. 

Ingredients

• 1 large chicken, about 2kg
• 2 tbsp rosemary leaves
• 2 tbsp thyme leaves
• 10 garlic cloves, 6 peeled and 4 unpeeled
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 carrots, cut into 3cm chunks
• 3 courgettes, cut into 3cm chunks
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
2. Cut the chicken in half lengthways using a sharp knife (straight down the middle of the breast and then down one side of the backbone) and make several cuts into the skin side.
3. Place the rosemary, thyme and peeled garlic cloves on a board and chop finely. Stuff the mixture into the cuts in the chicken skin and season all over with salt and pepper.
4. Place all the prepared vegetables with the unpeeled garlic in a roasting tray, drizzle with half of the oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well.
5. Lay the chicken on top of the vegetables, skin-side up, drizzle with the remaining oil and roast in the centre of the oven for 35 mins, basting the chicken with the cooking juices from the bottom of the tray after 15 mins.
6. To check that the chicken is cooked, pierce each piece with a skewer: the juices should run clear.
7. Remove the chicken from the tray, cut each piece into three and replace on top of the vegetables. Roast for a further 8 mins.
8. Remove the tray from the oven and rest for 3 mins, allowing the meat to relax and become more tender.
9. To serve, place all the vegetables on a large serving dish, arrange the chicken pieces on top and spoon over any juices.

Top tip for making Gino D'Acampo's roasted chicken

If you want to make the dish even healthier, discard the skin of the chicken before cooking and cover with some tinfoil. Get a good free-range chicken so the flavour will be ten times better.

How big a chicken do I need for my family?

A medium chicken is usually about 1.5kg and will feed 4 people, with a few leftover pieces you can pull from the carcass for adding to other dishes. If you’re cooking for 5 or 6, go for a 1.8kg-2kg bird. If you want leftovers for other meals, it might be cheaper to buy a larger chicken and store the leftovers, than to buy chicken separately for later meals. 

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