3 easy roast recipes for the long weekend

Roast chicken with creamy leek-and-fennel sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 200° C. Rub 1 whole free-range chicken with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and olive oil. Roast for 1 hour, until golden and crispy.
2. While the bird is roasting, heat 3 T olive oil in a pan. Gently fry 200 g washed and sliced leeks and 100 g washed baby fennel bulbs, halved lengthways. Add 2 T chicken stock powder and 1½ cups cream, stirring frequently. Add 1 sprig thyme and simmer for 6–10 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the thyme. Add the fennel fronds and stir through. Set aside until ready to serve.
3. Blanch 150 g trimmed French beans for 2 minutes. Drain and toss in olive oil and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
4. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Roughly pull the meat (with skin on) from the carcass. Arrange on a serving platter and spoon over the leek-and-fennel sauce. Top with the French beans and garnish with ¼ cup chopped Italian parsley.

Whole baked salmon with tamarind and ginger

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove salmon (about 1–2kg in size) from the fridge half an hour before baking. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with paper towel.
2. Place a length of wide heavy-duty tinfoil onto a large, flat baking tray (ensuring that the foil is at least twice as long as the fish) and brush with oil.
3. Put the salmon onto the tinfoil, then fill the cavity of the fish with 3 sliced (on the diagonal) spring onions, 1 sliced lime, a handful of coriander leaves and 8 peppercorns.
4. Start to bring the foil up around the fish and then pour over ⅓ cup Riesling. Wrap the fish in the foil, carefully crimping the edges of the foil together to seal it. Bake for 40 minutes.
5. Turn off the oven and leave the fish in the closed oven for a further 45 minutes. Do not open the foil!
6. Meanwhile, to make the tamarind dressing, place 3 T tamarind purée in a bowl with ½ cup water and stir to combine. Add 1 T finely grated palm sugar, ½ t ground cumin, 2 large red chillies (seeded and sliced finely), 1 t soya sauce, 1 t finely grated ginger and 1 T finely chopped coriander leaves.
7. Undo the tinfoil and transfer the salmon to a serving dish. Peel away the skin from the top of the fish and spoon over the tamarind dressing. Arrange the watercress and 2 limes, quartered, around the fish.

Quick roast lamb with brinjal sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C.
2. Unroll a 1kg free-range deboned lamb roast and flatten as much as possible, then place on a baking tray. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and smear with 1 clove crushed garlic. Moisten with olive oil and 2 T lemon juice, then sprinkle with 1–2 t dried oregano. Roast, fat side up, for 20 minutes until nicely browned but still rare. Cover and leave to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing thinly. Serve warm with cooked rosmarino, baby spinach leaves dressed lightly with olive oil and the brinjal sauce.
3. To make the brinjal sauce, preheat the oven to 230°C. Prick 2 medium brinjals and roast for 20 minutes, or until soft. Allow to cool, then scrape the flesh from the skin. Blend roughly and mix with sea salt and black pepper to taste, 1 T lemon juice, ⅓ cup double-cream yoghurt and 1 clove crushed garlic.

Looking for an even easier long-weekend line-up? Look no further than Woolies’ Easy to Cook roasts, ready for you to simply pop into the oven. There’s more good news if you’re not planning to spend all weekend in the kitchen: some of Woolies’ Easy to Cook side dishes (bacon-filled gem squash, anyone?), frozen meals and sauces are currently on promotion as part of this week’s Daily Difference deals. Happy weekend!

Learn more about Today With Woolies here.