Waitrose and Partners
Citrus-rubbed roast chicken with herby walnut salsa & sweet potatoes

Citrus-rubbed roast chicken with herby walnut salsa & sweet potatoes

Lola Milne's fragrant roast chicken with sweet potatoes takes your Sunday roast to the next level.

5 out of 5 stars(3) Rate this recipe
Gluten free
  • Serves6
  • CourseMain meal
  • Prepare20 mins
  • Cook1 hr 30 mins
  • Total time1 hr 50 mins
  • Plusresting

Ingredients

  • 60g salted butter, softened
  • 16 clove/s garlic, 2 crushed, 14 bashed in their skins
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • ½ orange, scrubbed, zest
  • ½ unwaxed lemon, zest and for squeezing
  • 1 Essential Large British Chicken
  • ⅓ x 20g pack tarragon
  • 150ml white wine
  • Natural yogurt, to serve

For the potatoes

  • 4 sweet potatoes, skins left on, cut into large chunks
  • 3 sweet peppers, deseeded and cut into large pieces
  • 2 clove/s garlic, crushed
  • 60g butter, melted
  • 1 tsp clear honey or maple syrup
  • Pinch chilli flakes
  • Pinch smoked paprika

For the salsa

  • 100g walnut pieces
  • ½ x 20g pack oregano, leaves picked
  • ⅔ x 20g pack tarragon, leaves picked
  • 2 x 25g packs curly leaf parsley, leaves picked
  • 1 clove/s garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp capers, drained
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 orange, juice (use the zested orange from the chicken)
  • 8 tbsp olive oil
  • Pinch smoked paprika

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas mark 7. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, crushed garlic, paprika, coriander and citrus zests. Pop the chicken into a snug roasting tin, then rub it all over with the butter mixture, including under the skin on the breast. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken, then put it in the cavity with the whole garlic cloves and tarragon. Sprinkle sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper over the chicken skin. Pour the wine and 100ml water into the tin and roast for 40 minutes.

  2. On a large baking tray, toss the sweet potatoes and peppers with the garlic, melted butter, honey, chilli flakes and paprika. Season. After 40 minutes, baste the chicken with the juices in the tin. Lower the oven temperature to 180ºC, gas mark 4 and pop the potatoes in on the shelf underneath the chicken. Roast the chicken for 40 minutes more, or until thoroughly cooked and the juices run clear with no pink meat.

  3. While everything roasts, make the salsa. Scatter the walnuts into a dry frying pan and toast for a few minutes, until golden. Cool. Put all the herbs into a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Add the garlic, capers and walnuts and whizz again. Spoon the mixture into a bowl and mix in the vinegar, orange juice, oil and paprika. Season.

  4. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Leave the potatoes in the oven and increase the heat to 220ºC, gas mark 7, until browning, about 10 minutes.

  5. Carve the chicken, then move the meat to a warmed platter. Spoon over the roasting juices and serve, with the roasted sweet potatoes and peppers, walnut salsa and natural yogurt alongside.

Cook’s tip

After you’ve enjoyed your roast chicken, make your own stock. Strip any remaining meat from the carcass and chill. Discard the lemon from the cavity. Pop the carcass, leg and wing bones into a large saucepan. Add 1 onion, halved with the skin on, 1 carrot, cut into thirds, 2 celery sticks, cut into thirds, 2 whole cloves garlic, some black peppercorns and a bay leaf. Cover the contents with water and bring to the boil. Skim off any froth, then simmer gently, covered, for 1-2 hours. Remove the lid and simmer further to concentrate it. Allow to cool, then strain and chill for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. 

Nutritional

Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe

Energy

4,445kJ/ 1,066kcals

Fat

62g

Saturated Fat

19g

Carbohydrates

58g

Sugars

18g

Fibre

11g

Protein

58g

Salt

0.9g

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