Greet the season by roasting a whole chicken with tarragon and fresh lemon. Throw some leeks around it in the pan and you’ve got a fuss-free meal, complete with a veggie and sauce.
Chicken à la spring
2
PREP TIME
10 min
Makes
4 servings
* PLUS Standing Time: 5 minutes, Roasting Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 1.75 kg roasting chicken
- 1 large lemon
- 6 large garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp dried tarragon leaves
- 2 large leeks
- 284-mL can undiluted chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F (230C). Remove giblets, if any, from chicken cavity. Discard or save for stock. Rinse chicken inside and out. Drain well and pat dry. Place chicken, breast-side down, in a shallow-sided roasting or broiler pan. Cut lemon into 4 wedges. Coarsely chop garlic. Sprinkle garlic and tarragon into cavity. Shake chicken to distribute evenly throughout breast cavity. Squeeze a little juice from 2 lemon wedges into cavity. Then stuff all lemon wedges into cavity.
- Trim off and discard hairy roots and dark green tops from leeks. Slice leeks in half lengthwise. Separate leaves and rinse under cold running water to wash away dirt. Place cut-side down in pan around chicken. Pour broth over leeks and chicken. Tightly cover pan with foil. You may need to use 2 large pieces of foil. Seal foil to edges of pan. Roast chicken in centre of 450F (230C) oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Uncover and remove leeks to one of the used pieces of foil, then wrap to keep warm. Turn chicken over so it is breast-side up and return to oven. Continue roasting, uncovered and basting after 10 minutes, until skin is deep golden brown and legs move easily or an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh reads 170F (77C), from 20 to 25 more minutes. Remove chicken to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes before carving. Skim any fat from pan juices, then pour into a sauceboat. Serve chicken with leeks and sauce. Pair with mashed potatoes and roasted thin carrots.
Nutrition (per serving)
- Calories
- 325,
- Protein
- 39.2 g,
- Carbohydrates
- 7.6 g,
- Fat
- 14.6 g,
- Fibre
- 1.9 g,
- Sodium
- 616 mg.
