I am a big fan of the whole roasted chicken. I make it on average a couple times a month because it is great for dinner but also provides leftovers for the next day. I’ve tried so many roast chicken recipes over the years and usually stick with the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe, but I’ve been trying all kinds of new recipes lately so I decided to give the Naked Chef Jamie Oliver’s version a go.

First off, I loved this recipe because I could use ingredients we grow right in our own backyard, from lemons to thyme leaves. But also, you cook your side dish, the potatoes, or in our case the sweet potatoes, right along with the chicken. I did find it a bit difficult to lift the half-cooked chicken up in order to get the potatoes underneath and coated in the melted butter and cooking juices, but otherwise the recipe was a breeze.

I am now obsessed with this recipe because the skin came out SO crispy. As you can see in the close-up photo above. To get the chicken to 165 degrees F in the breast, it needed about 75 minutes total, but all ovens vary a little in temperature, so use a meat thermometer to monitor yours. I sprinkled a little sea salt over the top right after it came out of the oven and as my husband carved up the chicken. But, the surprise was the incredible pan-juice roasted potatoes! They rivaled the best I’ve had in French bistros, crispy on the outside and creamy inside. Will make over and over!

Fantastic Roasted Chicken

Recipe By: Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef Takes Off
Total Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Hands-On Time: 20 mins
Serves: 4 (or 2 with leftovers)

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken, preferably organic
• 1 large lemon
• 8 slices prosciutto or Parma ham, thinly sliced
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 good handfuls fresh thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 ounces softened butter
• 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 large celeriac, peeled

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven and an appropriately sized roasting tray to 425 degrees F. Wash your chicken inside and out and pat dry with kitchen paper. Using your fingers, part the breast skin from the breast meat. It’s important to try to push your hand gently down the breast, being careful not to rip the skin.
2. With a peeler, remove and chop the fragrant yellow skin of the lemon, keeping the peeled lemon to one side. Chop prosciutto and add to the bowl with the lemon skin, garlic and thyme. Season, with salt and pepper and then mix it all into the butter. Push this into the space you have made between the meat and the skin — rub and massage any that’s left over in and around the bird. It’s all tasty stuff.
3. Slash the thigh meat to allow the heat to penetrate a little more, which makes it taste better. Cut the peeled lemon in half and push it into the cavity. Then put chicken in the hot roasting tray and roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
4. While the chicken is cooking, parboil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes and drain. Cut the celeriac into irregular chunks around the same size as the potatoes.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven, by which time the tasty butter will have melted, flavored and cooked out of the chicken into the bottom of the tray, awaiting your potatoes and celeriac. Normally I put a fork into the cavity of the chicken and lift it off of the tray for 20 seconds while I toss and coat the vegetables in the butter.
6. Put the chicken back on top of the vegetables and cook for around 45 minutes. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Once the meat and vegetables have been removed, a little light gravy can be made in the tray with a splash of wine and stock, a little simmering and scraping.