Roast Chicken Portions on Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables

This roast chicken recipe on Mediterranean vegetables is a little bit different to those similar recipes featured previously on this blog in that rather than being roasted with the chicken, the vegetables are roasted in the juices only when the chicken has been set aside to rest. As the vegetables used in this instance are fairly delicate, requiring only minimal cooking, this prevents them from being overcooked and served a little bit less than at their best.

The ingredients quoted here will make for two large or up to four medium portions.

Ingredients

1 4lb chicken
Olive oil
Salt and white pepper
1 large aubergine/eggplant
1 large courgette/zucchini
1 large red onion
4 to 6 medium chestnut mushrooms
Chopped coriander leaf/cilantro to garnish

Method

Wash the chicken and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Season the cavity with salt and white pepper. Lightly grease a roasting tray with olive oil and sit the chicken on it, breasts side up. Drizzle more olive oil over the chicken and rub it in evenly with your hands. Pay particular attention to the breasts and thighs. Season with more salt before placing the tray in to the oven - preheated to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6 - for one hour and twenty minutes. This is equivalent to twenty minutes per pound in weight plus twenty minutes over.

After this time, remove the chicken from the oven and pierce the thickest parts of the thigh and breast with a skewer to check the juices run clear. Transfer the chicken to a large serving platter and leave uncovered to rest while the vegetables are prepared.

Wash, dry, top and tail the aubergine (eggplant) and courgette (zucchini). Chop to approximately one inch chunks. Peel and quarter the red onion and wipe and half the mushrooms. Add the vegetables to the roasting tray, season with more salt and white pepper and stir carefully to evenly coat with the juices of the chicken. Put the tray back in to the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes, stirring carefully again half way through cooking.

The chicken should be carved just before the vegetables are ready. Begin by pulling the leg portions gently out from the carcass, slicing through the skin and flesh and popping the bone free. Remove the wings in a similar way.

Slice either side of the breast bone, cutting in one direction only and following the bones in the ribcage, to remove the two breast fillets.

Lift the vegetables from the roasting tray with a large slotted spoon and lay them on the bottom of the serving dish. Arrange the chicken portions on top and scatter with the roughly chopped coriander/cilantro.

Take the dish to the table and allow each diner to help themselves with serving spoons.