I cooked roast chicken for Sunday dinner earlier and invited friends J and J over. The first time I ever made roast chicken was based on Bill Granger’s recipe, and have modified this over time.
Roast chicken
- 1 organic whole chicken (1.7kg) – giblets removed
- 1 tub ricotta cheese
- lemon rind from 2 lemons
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Stuffing
- breadcrumbs from 5 slices of bread
- 3 tbsp dried cranberries, finely chopped
- 3 shallots, finely sliced
- dried italian herbs
Method
- For the stuffing, heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the shallots
- Season with salt, pepper and italian herbs
- Once the shallots are cooked, remove pan from the heat
- In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with cranberries
- Add in the shallots, mix well and season with salt, pepper and dried herbs. Leave aside
- Wash the chicken and pat dry with kitchen towel
- Mix the lemon rind with the ricotta cheese
- Using your fingers, create a gap between the chicken and skin in the breast and thigh areas
- Fill the gap with the lemon ricotta mix. This mix adds additional flavour to the chicken and keeps the meat moist as well
- Fill the cavity (centre of the chicken) with the stuffing. Using a rubber band, tie together the legs so that the stuffing is secure in the cavity
- Roast the chicken at 180 degrees celsius – follow the instructions on the chicken pack for cooking time. Mine took 1 hour 50 minutes.
