Roast chicken with squash and sourdough stuffing

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Put the squash and onions in a large roasting tray, then nestle in one half of the garlic bulb (set aside the other half). Drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat and season with salt. Roast for 40-45 minutes, turning the veg halfway through, until the squash is soft and the onions are beginning to caramelise at the edges. Add the walnuts, 75ml sherry/madeira and the bread to the roasting tray for the last 10 minutes of the cooking time.
2. Remove the roasting tray from the oven and transfer the squash mixture to a large bowl, along with any juices. Squeeze the garlic from its skin (discard the skin) then, once cool enough to handle, mash the squash and mix everything together with your hands. Season and loosely pack the mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish (about 1.5 litres). Add the thyme, dot with butter, then set aside.
3. Put the chicken in a roasting tin and put the ½ lemon, remaining ½ garlic bulb and small bunch of thyme sprigs into its cavity. Drizzle over a little oil, season with salt, then roast for 20 minutes. Turn the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and roast for 50-60 minutes; 10 minutes before the end of the roasting time, put the stuffing in the oven on the shelf below the chicken.
4. Once the chicken has reached 70°C when tested in the thickest part of the thigh with a digital thermometer (or once the fibres are clearly set and not gelatinous, and the juices run clear), remove from the oven to a carving board to rest. Put the stuffing on a higher rack in the oven for another 20 minutes to crisp on top.
5. Pour the juices from the chicken tin into a jug and skim the fat off the top. Put the fat in a saucepan over a medium heat, then stir in the flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes at a bubble, then pour in the sherry/madeira and the cooking juices. Turn up the heat and bubble until the alcohol smell cooks off. Gradually pour in the stock, keeping the heat high so it bubbles and stirring until it thickens to a gravy.
6. Once the stuffing is golden and crisp on the top and the chicken has had at least 20 minutes to rest, carve the meat and drizzle with a little of the gravy. Serve the chicken and stuffing with potatoes and seasonal greens, with the remaining gravy on the side.