An Italian Twist on your Sunday Roast

Nothing beats a good Sunday Roast. Fact. And we in the UK are masters. My favorite is chicken - not too rich, not too heavy (so you can eat twice as much!)  and super-easy to cook. The lemon and garlic in this will also work wonders for your health, keeping your arteries clear as can be.  This week's recipe is an Italian twist on an English classic and I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

2 Kg        whole chicken, with the excess fat removed

1              large lemon, juiced [keep the juice to add to the spinach, if wanted]

2              large lemons, not juiced 

1 tbsp       olive oil

6               garlic cloves, minced

     fresh herbes de Provence, finely chopped

     salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For a little extra iron...:

500 g       fresh baby spinach, rinsed

3             garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced

    salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

    lemon juice, optional

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C  and prepare a large baking dish for the chicken, then set aside.
2. In a bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, herbs, salt and black pepper. Mix it well and taste, adding a little of whatever you think is missing.
3. Rub the mixture onto the chicken, making sure to get it into every nook and cranny. The more thoroughly you do this, the better it will taste, so don't be squeamish!
4. Don't forget the cavity while you're rubbing in that herb mix! A great way of adding extra flavour to your roasted chicken is by gently separating the skin away from the meat, then using your hand or a spoon rub the spices and/or herbs directly under the skin.
5. Slice your two lemons in half and stuff them inside the chicken for added zing.
6. Next, place the chicken onto the baking dish, and roast in centre of oven for 2 hours or until the juices run clear and the meat is tender and falls easily off the bone.
7. During the roasting time, baste the chicken regularly (spoon the juices over the top of the chicken a few times) and never allow it to dry out. If it begins drying out, cover with aluminium foil and continue to cook.

For your iron-rich vegetable addition:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan and, once warm, add the garlic and sauté until soft.
2. Add the rinsed baby spinach to the pan and cook until wilted.
3. Sprinkle in some salt and black pepper to taste. If you like,  you can also add a little bit of lemon juice to the spinach for an extra kick.

Once the chicken is cooked through allow it to sit for 10 minutes before carving. Serve with spinach and all the trimmings. Yum.

And the best thing about chicken is that you can do so many excellent things with the leftovers - bung the carcass in a slow cooker with some veg and turn it into stock, have it in sandwiches for the next week, make it into a delicious stew or spice it up and have it with guacamole and salsa in a fajita. Ole!