Moroccan-style roast chicken
If you want to make a little bit of effort to celebrate special occasions such as Mother’s day, anniversaries or Easter with a tasty but easy meal, this Moroccan-style roast chicken is well worth trying! It’s zingy, a bit spicy and very-very flavoursome. Best served with couscous, rice or a mash and crispy salad (like thisMoroccan green salad>>)
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 175°C.
- Mix the butter with the cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne and cinnamon, salt & pepper. Rub half of the spice butter under the skin and over the chicken, including the cavity. Put the lemon halves into the cavity.
- Place the chicken in a large roasting tray.
- Cut the onion into quarters; the aubergine and carrot into large chunks. Rub them with the remaining spiced butter then scatter them around the chicken, together with the garlic cloves.
- Put the chicken in the oven, on the lower shelf. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile mix the chicken stock with the paste.
- Turn over the chicken, letting out the juices from the cavity into the tray. Pour over half of the stock mixture. Cook for another 30 minutes.
- Take the chicken out of the oven, transfer to plate. Add the chickpeas and the remaining spiced stock to the tray, mix well with the other vegetables, turning them over.
- Place the chicken back into middle of the tray (again, tilt it a bit to allow the lemon juice to escape from the cavity).
- Bake for another 35 minutes or so, until clear juices are coming out of the legs (check by inserting a knife to the inner thighs!)
- When the chicken is cooked through, transfer it to a serving plate and rest for 10 minutes (covered).
- Carve and serve with the chickpeas & vegetable sauce, scattered with fresh chopped herbs on top.