roast chicken with prosciutto and celeriac

roast chicken on a cold february weekday is better than therapy. not only does everyone love a roast chicken but having one on a tuesday rather than for sunday lunch feels extra naughty (we did in fact crack open a bottle of wine to go with it - seemed a shame not to).

it's a jamie oliver recipe and came about less by design than by a lucky dip in the ever-multiplying cookery books. a plain roasted chicken, maybe with some lemon, will always be my favourite but this makes a pretty nice change.

ps - i won the battle for the skin and therefore the stuffing - it was a trade-off for giving him both legs. not a contest, if you ask me (though i know he always sneakily eats bits of skin while carving).

ROAST CHICKEN

1 1.8kg organic chicken

1 large lemon

8 slices of prosciutto, thinly sliced

1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 handfuls of fresh thyme, finely chopped

115g of butter, softened

1/2 head of celeriac, chopped into large chunks

preheat the oven to 220C and put your roasting tin inside it to heat up at the same time.

work the prosciutto, garlic, thyme and the zest of the lemon (save the lemon for later) into the softened butter. take balls of the mixture and push them carefully under the chicken skin on the breast. make sure you don't break the skin or it will all be ruined. now cut the lemon in half and stick it inside the chicken.

put the chicken in the roasting tin and cook for 25 minutes. after this time, take it out and chuck the celeriac in. roast for another 45 minutes. that should be it but do pierce the chicken with a skewer to ensure juices run clear. leave to rest for ten minutes before tucking in.