Roast chicken with oregano and butter beans
Cooked slowly in the chicken juices, the butter beans are creamy and rich on the bottom and satisfyingly crispy on top. You can easily swap them with chickpeas or other legumes. Look online for a quick guide on how to spatchcock a chicken. It really is very simple and it makes the chicken cook evenly. All you need is a pair of heavy-duty scissors or standard garden secateurs.
Prep 15 min
Cook 1hr 10 min
Serves 4-6
1 whole chicken (2.3–2.5kg), spatchcocked
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground turmeric
150ml olive oil
Fine sea salt and black pepper
2 x 700g jars butter beans, drained
20g oregano
150g round shallots, peeled and cut in half
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon, cut in half
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4.
Place the chicken in a large, high-sided tray (about 30cm x 38cm). Mix the garlic, turmeric and olive oil in a bowl with two teaspoons of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Rub three-quarters of this mixture all over the chicken and under the skin. Scatter the beans, oregano and shallots around the chicken and nestle the cinnamon among them.
Add the remainder of the garlic, turmeric and oil mixture to 100ml water and pour over the beans and shallots, mixing well. Generously crack over some black pepper and add the lemon halves to the tray.
Place in the oven and roast for one hour, until the beans have burst and are crispy in places. Increase the heat to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7 and cook for another 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden and crispy.
Set aside to rest for 10 minutes and serve with the lemon squeezed on top.
Roast potatoes with peppers and garlic
Adding peppers to your potatoes as they roast gives them sweetness and vibrancy. They go well with the roast chicken, but you can also serve them with grilled aubergine halves and a drizzle of tahini sauce.
Prep 10 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 6
1kg baby potatoes, cut in half lengthways
10g thyme
9 garlic cloves, skin on
120ml olive oil
440g whole Piccerella peppers, or 2-3 bell peppers, cut in 3cm strips
Flaked sea salt and black pepper
Place the potatoes with half of the thyme and three garlic cloves in a saucepan and cover with plenty of well salted water. Bring to the boil on a high heat, then reduce to medium-high, and cook for five minutes until a knife goes through them easily, then drain.
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/325F/gas 4.
Add the potatoes with all of the garlic (both boiled and raw), thyme and oil to a large tray with a good grind of black pepper. Mix well to coat and place in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden with dark patches in places.
Increase the heat to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7, stir in the peppers with half a teaspoon of salt, mix and roast for 10-15 minutes until the peppers have blistered and softened.
Remove from the oven and serve hot.
