Mother's Day entertaining is getting a simple and delicious upgrade, with Courtney Roulston serving up the ultimate family-style roast lunch for Cooking With Coles.
Designed to take the stress out of hosting, Roulston's recipe pairs a golden roast chicken with a fresh salad that can be prepared while everything cooks in the oven.
The lighter-style roast is perfect for a relaxed Mother's Day lunch, giving home cooks an easy sharing dish without juggling too many elements at once.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6 to share
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 60 minutes
- 1 x 1.6kg Coles RSPCA whole chicken
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 80ml Olive oil, divided into 2 portions
- 2 leeks, washed, sliced into 10cm lengths
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
- 10 sprigs thyme
- 1.5kg roasting potatoes, washed, cut into 2cm pieces
- 1 pack (3) baby gem lettuce, washed, cut into quarters
- 1 large green pear, cored, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 1 heaped teaspoon honey
- 25g Parmesan grated from a block, plus extra to garnish
Method
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Cut down both sides of the backbone of the chicken to butterfly, removing the neck and backbone piece. Turn the chicken over and gently press on top of the chicken to flatten it out - this helps cook the chicken faster and creates more surface area for crispy skin!
Place the leeks, garlic and thyme sprigs into the centre of a lined roasting tray. Drizzle the chicken with half the oil and season on both sides with salt then place on top of the leeks. Arrange the potatoes onto a separate tray and drizzle with remaining oil and season with salt. Place both the chicken and the potatoes into the oven and roast for 1 hour, or until the chicken is golden, potatoes are crisp and the leeks are tender. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before carving into portions.
Meanwhile for the salad whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, cracked black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Arrange the lettuce and sliced pear on a serving platter. Drizzle the dressing over the salad then shave over some extra Parmesan and black pepper before serving.
Place the roast potatoes and carved chicken onto a large serving platter and serving with the salad on the side.
