Categories: Meals
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 lb. roasting chicken
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
- 23 garlic cloves (8 minced, 15 whole)
- 3 tbsp mixed chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), plus some whole herb sprigs
- 1 lemon
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350.
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Remove the bag from the center of the chicken that contains all the innards. Pat the chicken really dry with paper towels, then season it generously both on the inside and the outside with 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
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In a bowl, combine the butter, minced garlic, chopped herbs, a few pinches each salt and pepper. Grate the lemon’s zest right into the bowl, then stir everything together.
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Insert your fingers between the chicken skin and the breast to loosen the skin around the meat. Slip half the butter mixture underneath the skin, trying really hard not to rip the skin. Halve the zested lemon and stuff the halves inside the chicken’s cavity along with 5 of the whole garlic cloves and the herb sprigs. Slather the chicken with the rest of the herb butter.
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Arrange the carrots, parsnips, onion and remaining 10 whole garlic cloves in a 9×13-inch baking dish in a single layer. Season the veggies with a few pinches of salt and place the chicken on top, breast-side down. Roast the chicken until it’s super golden and the skin is crisp, 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes, basting with the juices in the pan every 15 minutes.
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Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Drain the cooking juices into a container, and use a gravy baster to suck off and discard the butter floating on top. Remove the lemon halves from the chicken and squeeze one or both of them into the juices and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the other stuff from inside the chicken and discard. Carve the chicken and serve it with the veggies and chicken juices.