Pot roast chicken

Name: Pot roast chicken
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 2 onions, diced; 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved; 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and chopped; 225g red lentils, rinsed a handful of thyme sprigs, tied with string; 5 sage leaves; 750ml chicken stock, plus extra if needed; juice of 1 lemon (retain the squeezed lemon halves); 1 medium free-range chicken, about 1.5–1.8kg; 2 tsp butter, softened sea salt flakes and freshly; ground black pepper; a handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Portion size: Serves 4
Hands-on time 25 mins, cook time 75 mins
Difficulty: easy

Gluten-free

Recipe by: Mimi Spencer and Sam Rice, from The Midlife Kitchen

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A one-pot chicken recipe from The Midlife Kitchen book by Mimi Spencer and Sam Rice. You cook it in one large casserole, with just half an hour of hands-on prep, before it goes in the oven.

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Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
225g red lentils, rinsed a handful of thyme sprigs, tied with string
5 sage leaves
750ml chicken stock, plus extra if needed
juice of 1 lemon (retain the squeezed lemon halves)
1 medium free-range chicken, about 1.5–1.8kg
2 tsp butter, softened sea salt flakes and freshly
ground black pepper
a handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Heat the oil in a large casserole dish, add the onions and cook over a medium heat for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for a further 3 minutes, then stir in the lentils, thyme, sage leaves and stock. Stir in the lemon juice and add the squeezed lemon husks.
Smear the chicken with the butter and season well. Nestle it into the lentil mix and bring to a simmer, then transfer to the oven. Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour 15 minutes until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a knife. Check occasionally that the lentils aren’t too dry (if they are, add a little more stock or boiling water and give it a stir). Remove the chicken from the casserole and leave to rest.
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Check the lentils for seasoning, remove the lemon husks, stir in the sticky bits from the side of the dish and add plenty of chopped parsley. Carve the chicken and serve with the lentils.

Recipe from The Midlife Kitchen: Health-Boosting Recipes for Midlife and Beyond by Mimi Spencer and Sam Rice, published by Mitchell Beazley. Image credit: Issy Crocker.

Quick wins & tips

If you crave leafy greens with this, try some oven-baked kale. Empty a bag of sliced kale into a roasting tin, toss in a teaspoon or two of olive oil and a scatter of sea salt flakes, then pop in the oven about 15 minutes before the chicken comes out.

Cook smarter

Why Mimi and Sam love it: This is one-pot Midlife cooking at its best: lots of lean protein, plenty of slow-burn carbs, bags of herby flavour and a solitary pan to wash up at the end. Make this your new Sunday roast and you’ll be able to stick it in the oven, play a game of tennis or tiddlywinks and return to a complete family meal. Job done.