A simple roast chicken that’s true home-style cooking. The whole chicken cooks in one pot with vegetables and potatoes – making sure that no flavour is lost.

Ingredients

• 1 x 400 g can Rhodes Quality Chickpeas, drained
• 65 ml (¼ C) butter
• 45 ml (3 T) sunflower oil
• 1 whole chicken, cleaned
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 10 ml (2 t) fresh thyme leaves
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 200 g baby potatoes, peeled
• 250 ml (1 C) prepared chicken stock
  

Method

1. Heat the butter and the oil together in a large heavy bottomed casserole dish.
2. Season the whole chicken with the salt, pepper and thyme and place into the casserole dish.
3. Brown the skin well on all sides.
4. Remove the chicken from the dish and set aside.
5. Add the onions, carrots and garlic to the dish and fry for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions begin to soften.
6. Add the baby potatoes and stir well to coat.
7. Return the chicken to the casserole dish.
8. Add the chicken stock and place the lid on the casserole dish.
9. Place the casserole dish into the oven preheated to 170C and roast slowly for 45 minutes.
10. Add the Rhodes Quality Chickpeas to the vegetables and stir well.
11. Replace the lid and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
12. Your choice: To thicken the sauce, remove one cup of the vegetables together with some sauce and blend to smooth with a hand held blender.
13. Return the puree to the remaining sauce in the dish and stir well to mix through.
14. Carve the chicken and serve.