Chef notes
This is a fantastic meal to last you throughout the week, ensuring you eat healthy, balanced and home-cooked food.
Pro tip: I often will roast two chickens to make sure that I have plenty of leftover meat to use throughout the week in other dishes. We often waste herbs when we're making a single recipe, I like to wrap left over herbs in a damp paper towel and use them the next day in a simple salsa verde.
Ingredients
- 1 whole pastured chicken, 2-3 pounds
- Sea salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped sage
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon ground sumac
- 2 large heads of broccoli, stems removed and set aside for another use chili flakes
- Sea salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation
1.Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
2.In a food processor, combine the olive oil with the thyme, sage, garlic and lemon zest and blitz until fully incorporated.
3.In a glass or enamel roasting pan, large enough to fit the entire chicken, smear the chicken with the half of the olive oil mixture and season generously with sumac, sea salt and pepper. Using butcher's twine, truss the legs together and wings behind the back. Place the bird, breast-side up, and roast in the oven until the meat reads 155 F at the joint with meat thermometer, about 35-45 minutes depending upon the size of the bird.
4.Once the bird is in the oven, heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large cast iron pan.
5.Rub the head of broccoli with the remaining olive oil-herb mixture, then season with salt and chili flakes.
6.Using kitchen tongs, char the head of broccoli, turning until evenly charred, turn off the heat and remove the broccoli from the pan and cut into quarters, it should still be raw inside. Return the quartered broccoli to the pan and transfer the pan to the oven and roast until the broccoli is cooked through and tender, about 15-20 minutes.
7.Once the chicken is cooked through, take out of the oven and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes before carving. Serve with the charred broccoli.
