Martha’s Mum’s Roast Chicken from Pull Up a Chair

“My mum’s roast chicken will have me galivanting halfway across the country. When I asked her for the recipe, she was embarrassed by the simplicity, but if it turns out a perfect chicken, I’m here for it! The secret to the crispy skin feels counterintuitive: no oil. Let the fats from the poultry do all the crisping for you. Buy a higher-welfare chicken – with a recipe this simple, the quality of the ingredients really matters.” Martha Collison, author of Pull Up a Chair

1 large higher-welfare chicken (around 1.5kg/3lb 5oz)

1 lemon, halved

6 garlic cloves

3 rosemary sprigs

3 lemon thyme sprigs

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before you are ready to cook and place in a large roasting tin. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7).

Stuff the lemon halves into the chicken cavity, along with the garlic cloves and whole sprigs of rosemary and lemon thyme. Truss the chicken using a piece of butcher’s twine, leaving the wings loose but tying the legs together. Pat the skin dry with a sheet of kitchen paper, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Roast the chicken in the centre of the oven, rotating the tray once halfway to ensure an even cook, for around 1 hour 20 minutes (reduce or increase this time if your chicken is larger or smaller). When the chicken is cooked, it should be a deep golden brown all over, and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the legs and breast registers at least 75°C (165°F). Cover the bird with foil during cooking if you feel it is colouring too quickly.

Allow the chicken to rest, covered loosely with foil, for at least 20 minutes, before carving and serving. You can use all the ingredients you used to stuff the cavity, along with the meat juices and a splash of chicken stock and white wine, to make a gravy, if you like. Add a little cornflour mixed with water to thicken to your desired consistency and strain well before serving.