Basic roast chicken Recipe

How to make it

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• Preheat the oven to 220C.
• Brush oil all over the chicken, then rub in the butter and season.
• Place the bird on its back in a roasting tin, pour in water and put in centre of the oven.
• After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 190C and roast for another 25 minutes.
• Baste the chicken, turn it over onto its breast, baste again and roast for 25 minutes.
• Turn chicken onto its back, test for doneness (when pricked in the thickest part of the thigh, the juices should run clear and meat come away from the bone easily) and return to oven as necessary. Rule of thumb: 45 min/kg + 20-30 minutes.
• Remove the cooked chicken from the roasting tin and tip in any juices from its interior back into the pan. Place the chicken on a plate etc and cover with foil for 10 minutes before carving.
• In the meantime, make the gravy: Skim off most of the fat in the roiastin tin and put the pan on the hob. Mix 1 tbsp flour with 1 tbsp fat and whisk into the pan. Add 300 ml water or stock plus 1 tbsp tomato passata, herbs, garlic etc. Increase the heat, whisking, and let simmer a couple of minutes to cook away the flour. Strain.
• Carve the chicken by cutting the breast off the carcass (following the breast bone is easy as wishbone removed) and then slicing it into thick-ish slices, legs as normal.