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A beautiful Mother's Day lunch spread featuring peri-peri chicken livers, roast chicken, griddled vegetable tabbouleh, treacle tart and lime cocktails made with Wilson's Foods oils

Roast Chicken with Lemon, Rosemary and Crispy Potatoes

The trick is parboiling the potatoes with the lemon, then stabbing it hot into the chicken cavity. What comes out of the oven is the juiciest roast chicken you've made, sitting on the crispiest potatoes you've ever eaten.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: British, South African
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1.8 kg whole free-range chicken
  • 3 tbsp Wilson's Foods Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 whole lemon
  • 1 bulb garlic broken into cloves (unpeeled)
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1.5 kg potatoes peeled and cut into golf ball-sized pieces
  • sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method
 

  1. Preheat your oven to 190°C. Season the chicken generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Rub all over with 2 tablespoons of Wilson's Foods Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Set aside at room temperature while you prep the potatoes.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and the whole lemon and cook for 12 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 minute — this is key for crispy potatoes.
  3. While the potatoes are still hot, toss them vigorously in the pot so their outsides get rough and fluffy — this gives you maximum crunch in the oven. Remove the lemon.
  4. Add the potatoes to a large roasting tray with the remaining tablespoon of Wilson's Foods Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the rosemary sprigs, thyme and unpeeled garlic cloves. Toss well and season generously.
  5. Carefully stab the drained lemon about 10 times using a knife (hold it with tongs — it will hiss), then push it into the chicken cavity along with a few rosemary and thyme sprigs.
  6. Sit the chicken directly in the centre of the roasting tray on top of the potatoes. Roast for 1 hour 20 minutes, basting the chicken and giving the potatoes a shake every 30 minutes or so.
  7. The chicken is done when the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh. Transfer to a board to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving — don't skip this. Return the potatoes to the oven while the chicken rests if you want them extra crispy.
  8. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skins, mash and smear over the chicken just before carving. Serve with the pan juices spooned over the top.
  9. Notes: Rest the chicken for a minimum of 15 minutes — it makes a significant difference to the juiciness. The parboiled lemon trick is the key to this recipe. Don't skip it.