How to make Spanish-style roast chicken

This is the ideal Spring time roast chicken recipe. It holds the delightful promise of chilled sangria, and sunny evenings with time on your hands and food on the go.

It’s got all the flair, flavour and colour of Spanish-style fiesta food and it’s light and relaxed enough to be the perfect food for sharing.

Also, it has the (massive) added bonus of all being cooked up in one dish. A simple assemblage of ingredients and you’re just a foot-tap away from glorious chicken-y, chorizo-y, blistered lemon glory.

Tip: For a quicker version, par-boil the potatoes for 5 minutes and use chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken.

Top tips for what to do with leftovers:

1. Shred any leftover roast chicken, dice up some chorizo, potato and onion bits and toss together with cous cous or chickpeas.
Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, add in a good handful of fresh parsley and serve.

2. Bring 1 tin diced tomatoes to a bubble on the stove along with a little salt, sugar and crushed dried chillies.
Add in the leftover chicken pieces, chorizo, potato and onions and mix together.
Drizzle over a little lemon juice, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve over couscous or as it is with pita breads.
Alternatively, leave out the couscous, add 750ml good quality chicken stock and you have a delicious spicy soup.

Ingredients
Serves 4 | Preparation time 5 minutes | Cooking time 45-60 minutes

About 400g baby potatoes, skin on
100g good quality chorizo, thinly sliced
2 small red onions, peeled and cut into sixths
6 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4-6 sprigs fresh thyme
Olive oil for coating
1 roasting chicken (preferably free-range)
2 lemons
1 level tsp smoked paprika
Generous pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 ºC.

2. To a large roasting dish add your potatoes, chorizo, red onions, garlic and herbs. Drizzle over about 1 Tbsp olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and toss gently until everything is well coated.

3. Place the chicken on top of the potatoes, drizzle over about 2 tsp olive oil, add the zest of 1 lemon and the paprika, as well as a further sprinkling of salt and pepper. Halve the lemons and add them to the roasting tray.

4. Roast uncovered for 45-60 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken) or until cooked through and the juices run clear when you insert a knife into the flesh of the chicken. Remove the chicken, drain the juices into a small pot to make gravy, and add the potatoes etc. back to the oven to crisp up a little while the chicken rests.

5. Serve immediately with gravy made from the pan juices.

To make the gravy:
Take the pan juices and add 250ml good instant gravy – make according to packet instructions. Simmer gently until the mixture thickens slightly. You could also squeeze in the juice of some of the blistered lemons for extra flavour if you like.

Sarah Graham is author of Bitten and blogs with us on Food24.  Follow her on twitter @foodieliveshere.