What could be more comforting than a homemade roast chook with a side of delicious, crispy, oven roasted vegetables.
And while it’s not something you’d have every day, the humble roast often gets a bad-wrap.
But the truth is, it’s all in the cooking.
For the ultimate heart health and antioxidant benefits, nutritionists recommend that Australians consume 3 tablespoons of Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) a day.
So forget the fads and the fitspo, throw away that coconut oil and duck fat, and get back to basics by roasting with deliciously robust certified Australian EVOO.
Ingredients
3 tbsp certified Australia EVOO
1.5kg Whole Free Range Chicken
1 Lemon Spring of Thyme
Sea Salt Black Pepper
6 Potatoes peeled
1 Pumpkin
4 Parsnips
6 Cloves Garlic Green beans to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C, rinse the chicken (including its cavity) under cold water, pat dry with paper towel and sit in a roasting tray filled with 1 inch of cold water. Stuff the cavity with a lemon and drizzle the chicken with certified Australian EVOO. Rub the salt and oil into skin and finish with cracked pepper.
An average 1.5kg stuffed chicken takes around 30 minutes per 500 grams to cook, so you will need to cook it for 1.5 hours.
Put the chicken in the oven and set a timer for 1 hour.
Peel and cut potatoes, pumpkin and parsnip into large chunks and place in a roasting tray with unpeeled whole garlic cloves before drizzling with certified Australian EVOO and seasoning with salt and pepper.
When the timer goes off after 1 hour, place in the vegetables in the oven with the chicken and cook both for a further 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the roast vegetables are crispy.
Serve with steamed green beans dressed with certified Australian EVOO.
To make sure your Australian EVOO is certified, check the bottle for the triangle certification symbol.