Roast Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

• One approximately 3 ½ pound whole chicken
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and black pepper
• 1 lemon
• a small bunch of fresh sprigs of thyme, rosemary, bay, sage, or any combination

Directions:

1. Remove chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 475°F.
2. Wash and roughly chop vegetables (no need to peel).   
3. Pile all vegetables into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird.
4. Cut lemon in half, and squeeze lemon juice over the bird using a fork. Place lemon inside the chicken's cavity, with the bunch of herbs.
5. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 400°F and cook the chicken for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
6. At the 40 minute mark, baste the chicken (use baster to redistribute liquid from bottom of pan over top of the chicken and if the vegs look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning. When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so.  Cover it with a layer of tin foil and put aside.  

Carve and enjoy!