The secret to speeding up the roasting of a chicken is to cook it in a hot oven, butterflied. I saw Donna Hay do something similar on one of her TV shows last year and I thought I would give it a try – It turns out juicy and lovely all the way through. I’ve been roasting chicken this way ever since.
You could buy a chicken already butterflied/spatchcocked from the butcher or the supermarket, but you can do it yourself if you have some heavy duty kitchen scissors.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 x 2kg chicken
Oil or butter
Some herbs (optional), I used dried rosemary and thyme most recently.
Salt and pepper
Method
- Preheat your oven to 220°C and grease a large roasting tin.
- (If you don’t have a pre-butterflied chicken) Turn your chicken over so that the backbone is on the top (I do this in my kitchen sink, with the chicken resting on the packaging it came in). Use your kitchen scissors to cut down both sides of the backbone and remove it. Turn the chicken over and place it in your roasting tin. Tuck the wing tips underneath, press down on the breastbone to flatten it a bit more and make sure the legs are turned so that the thigh is on the outside (see picture below).
- Pat the skin dry with kitchen paper, then brush with oil or butter and sprinkle with whatever herbs and spices you like, plus salt and pepper.
- Roast for 45 minutes (check that the meat is not pink in the thickest part of the thigh and breast and the juices run clear). Take out and rest for a few minutes before serving.
Note: If you have a 1.5 kg chicken, it will only take around 35 minutes to cook
You could change up the flavours of this to suit any cuisine – sprinkle with cumin, garlic powder, paprika and chilli powder for a Mexican twist; chopped coriander, lemongrass, ginger and fresh chilli for a thai-ish version.
Enjoy!