The perfect thing for a relaxed gathering. Plenty of wine, fresh bread and a green or bitter salad are the only other things necessary.
Ingredients
- Chicken 1, roughly 1.6 kg (3 lb 8 oz)
- Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
For the rosemary, anchovy, garlic and lemon butter
- Anchovies 1 small tin (or 12–14 fillets)
- Lemon 1 small, zest and juice
- Garlic 2 cloves
- Butter 200 g (7 oz)
- Chopped Rosemary 2 Tbs
Cook It
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350ºF/Gas 4).
- Season the chicken lightly all over, inside and out.
- Put all the butter ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth. Taste for seasoning.
- Stuff some of the butter inside the cavity, under the skin and all over the breast. Smear the rest all over the chicken with your hands.
- Place the bird breast-side down in a roasting tin and cook for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, baste the bird all over with the juices, and then turn it breast-side up. Turn up the oven to 200ºC (400ºF/Gas 6) and roast for another 20 minutes. Insert a skewer into the fattest part of the thigh and press; if the juices run clear, the bird is done. If not, then put back in the oven for a little longer. Once cooked, leave to rest for a few minutes before carving and serving with all of its delicious juices.
Recipe excerpted from Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from Sardinia by Letitia Clark © 2020 Reproduced by permission of Hardie Grant. All rights reserved.
