Ingredients

Method

• 1 x 1.5 kg free-range chicken, at room temperature
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

Ingredients

Refrigerate the chicken overnight, uncovered, to allow the skin to dry. Make sure that the chicken is at room temperature before roasting and that the oven is as clean as can be.

Preheat the oven to 230°C.

Pat the chicken dry using kitchen paper, inside and out. Season inside with salt and pepper and outside generously with salt. Tie up neatly with string.

Place, breast side up, on a roasting tray in a baking pan. Roast for 1 hour without opening the oven, not even for a quick peek unless billowing smoke is setting off the fire alarm. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5–10 minutes, then transfer to a platter.

Serve immediately with the juices that have accumulated in the pan. I like it with mashed sweet potatoes, lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and wilted greens – perhaps baby spinach leaves.

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