Winter roasts recipe for 4 people, takes only 30 mins; recipe has onion, carrot, chicken, lemon, thyme, butter, plain flour and chicken stock.
Classic roast chicken & gravy
Course: Winter roasts
Servings
4
servings
Prep time
10 mins
Ingredients
- Onion: 1 onion, roughly chopped
- Carrot: 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- Lemon: 1 lemon, halved
- Butter: 25g butter, softened
- Chicken: 1 free range chicken, about 1 1/2 kg/3lb 5oz
- Thyme: small bunch thyme (optional)
- Chicken Stock: 250ml chicken stock (a cube is fine)
- Plain Flour: 1 tbsp plain flour
Directions
- Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Have a shelf ready in the middle of the oven without any shelves above it.
- Scatter 1 roughly chopped onion and 2 roughly chopped carrots over the base of aroasting tinthat fits the whole 1 1/2 kg chicken, but doesn't swamp it.
- Season the cavity of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, then stuff with 2 lemon halves and a small bunch of thyme, if using.
- Sit the chicken on the vegetables, smother the breast and legs all over with 25g softened butter, then season the outside with salt and pepper.
- Place in the oven and leave, undisturbed, for 1 hr 20 mins - this will give you a perfectly roasted chicken. To check, pierce the thigh with a skewer and the juices should run clear.
- Carefully remove the tin from the oven and, using a pair of tongs, lift the chicken to a dish or board to rest for 15-20 mins. As you lift the dish, let any juices from the chicken pour out of the cavity into the roasting tin.
- While the chicken is resting, make the gravy. Place the roasting tin over a low flame, then stir in 1 tbsp flour and sizzle until you have a light brown, sandy paste.
- Gradually pour in 250ml chicken stock, stirring all the time, until you have a thickened sauce.
- Simmer for 2 mins, using a wooden spoon to stir, scraping any sticky bits from the tin.
- Strain the gravy into a smallsaucepan, then simmer and season to taste. When you carve the bird, add any extra juices to the gravy.
