lemon and garlic chicken with parmesan vegetables

If you can find time to roast a chicken or even two, and not eat every bite, you might have enough for tacos the next night and can even toss the carcass in a pot of water with a few root vegetables for soup another night. Might be worth it just to make your house smell like Grandma’s

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chicken

Servings: 4 people

Author: Alyce Morgan/More Time at the Table

Equipment

Roasting Pan
Instant Read Thermometer

Ingredients

Olive oil
Lemon
4- pound whole organic chicken-giblets removed
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Large sprig fresh thyme or sage
4 cloves garlic-divided—2 left whole and unpeeled, 2 peeled and sliced
2 medium yellow onions- quartered and peeled, with root end left intact
4 golden beets-unpeeled, but trimmed and cut in half
2 leeks-white and light-green parts only, well-washed and trimmed, each cut into 2 or 3-inch pieces
1 medium fennel bulb-cut in half length-wise and half again
1 medium sweet potato- peeled and cut into 8 pieces
4 medium carrots-scrubbed and trimmed but unpeeled, cut on the bias into 2-3-inch pieces
Pinch crushed red pepper
1/3- cup 1-ounce grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, set rack at center, and lightly oil bottom of roasting pan. Grate the lemon, reserve zest, and cut in half. (You’ll use half now and half at serving time.) Place chicken at center of pan, brush all over with 2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle well with salt and pepper* inside and out, and stuff the cavity with ½ of the lemon, 2 of the cloves of garlic, the fresh herbs and a ¼ of one onion. Tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wings underneath the body.
Add all of the remaining vegetables (onions –carrots, including the other 2 cloves of sliced garlic) to a large bowl, drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil, and sprinkle with one teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, crushed red pepper, and reserved lemon zest. Toss gently together and then scatter around the chicken in the roasting pan.
Roast for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, turn vegetables over, drizzle chicken with a bit more oil or pan juices if dry. If the chicken is already browning well, tent with foil. Return to oven for another half hour – or more as needed. Insert an instant read thermometer into the fleshy part of the thigh. If it registers between 175 and 180 degrees F, and the juices run clear instead of pink, the bird is done. If not, continue cooking another 5-10 minutes, and test again.
Remove pan from oven and using a thin-bladed spatula, scoop vegetables to a serving bowl and cover to keep warm--or return to the turned-off oven. Let the chicken rest, tented with foil, for 15 minutes before carving. Just before serving, squeeze the reserved 1/2 lemon over the vegetables, and toss gently with cheese. Taste a piece of one vegetable and adjust seasonings. Serve hot or warm, though cold leftovers are also great. Leftovers are good for 3-4 days tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.
SERVING WITH PAN JUICES: If there are pan juices left, tilt the pan and spoon off as much shiny fat as you can. You can then spoon the juices over the chicken.
If you'd like a pan sauce, place roasting pan on a stove burner and turn heat to medium. Pour in 1/2 cup white wine and, scraping up bits on the botttom, simmer a few minutes. Pour in 1 cup chicken broth, a good pinch of salt and pepper, and simmer for a few more minutes. Add a tablespoon of salted butter and, stirring, let it melt. Taste, adjust seasonings, and serve hot in a small bowl or gravy boat with ladle at the table.

Notes

*I use about ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper on the inside and 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper on the outside. You can adjust this to your own tastes or needs.