Davina’s roast chicken recipe

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, about 1.5 kg in weight
• 25 g butter, at room temperature
• ½ a lemon juice
• 300 ml white wine, chicken stock or water
• salt and black pepper

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried sage or 1 tbsp fresh
• 1 grated lemon zest
• 2 pork sausages
• 75 g wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 1 egg

1. Take the chicken out of the fridge at least half an hour before you want to cook it, so it can come to room temperature. Take the butter out of the fridge too. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas 5.
2. Make the stuffing. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and celery and cook them for several minutes over a medium heat until softened. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sage and lemon zest. Take the skin off the sausages and crumble the meat into a bowl with the wholemeal breadcrumbs. Add the onion mixture and the egg, then season with salt and pepper and mix everything thoroughly it’s easiest to do this with your hands.
3. Divide the stuffing between the neck end of the chicken and the cavity, then put the chicken in a roasting tin. Smear butter all over the chicken skin and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken too.
4. Pour 300 ml of wine, stock or water around the chicken, then roast in the preheated oven. The timing depends on the weight of the chicken. It needs 20 minutes for every 500 g, plus another 20 minutes at the end. So for a 1.5 kg bird, that’s 1 hour and 20 minutes. Turn the heat up to 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas 7 for the last 15 minutes to crisp up the skin.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven and check that it’s done by piercing the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer. It’s ready if the juices are running clear and the leg feels loose enough to pull away easily. If it’s not quite done, pop it back in the oven for 5 minutes or so. Put the chicken on a warm dish, then cover it in foil and leave it to rest while you make the gravy.
6. Put the roasting tin on the hob and bring the cooking juices to the boil, scraping up any brown bits sticking to the bottom. Whisk to mix the liquid and fat in the tin, so you end up with a thin well-flavoured gravy. Pour this into a warm gravy boat or jug.
7. Serve the chicken with spoonfuls of stuffing and the gravy, plus some lovely roast potatoes.