Recipe: Lemon and herb roasted chicken with kale and almond pesto

THE FLAVOUR COMBINATIONS

1 large chicken

handful fresh thyme sprigs

5 fresh rosemary sprigs

1 onion, peeled and quartered

5 garlic cloves, peeled

1 lemon, quartered

softened butter, to rub

salt and freshly ground black

pepper, to taste

KALE-ALMOND PESTO

100g almonds, roasted and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated

200ml olive oil

6 large kale leaves, stalks removed and finely chopped

basil flowers, to garnish (optional)

HOW TO DO IT

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C. Prepare your chicken by removing the Parson’s nose and placing the chicken in a roasting dish. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with thyme and rosemary sprigs, the onion quarters, garlic cloves and lemon quarters. Depending on the size of the chicken, all the stuffing ingredients may not fit into the cavity – simply stuff the cavity with as much as possible of the ingredients and arrange the remaining ingredients around the chicken.

2 Rub the chicken skin with a generous amount of softened butter and season to taste. Roast in the preheated oven until the skin is crisped and a small incision in the chicken thigh reveals that the juices run clear, about one hour.

3 While the chicken roasts, prepare the hand-chopped pesto by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste.

4 Serve the chicken with the pesto and garnish with basil flowers, if desired.

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