Black olive roast chicken

This one-pan chicken dish is one of those flexible recipes. If fennel isn't your thing, feel free to substitute another vegetable like carrots or any other root vegetable. If you're really short on time, using a cut-up whole chicken and placing it over the vegetables would work as well, and is likely to cook slightly faster. Any combo of herbs you like can go into the black olive paste.

Black olive roast chicken

Adapted from “The Herbal Kitchen” by Jerry Traunfeld

Ingredients

½ cup pitted oil-cured black olives

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon

2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1½ pounds potatoes, cut into 2-inch chunks

1 large fennel bulb, white parts only, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 roasting chicken

½ cup white wine

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine olives, thyme, rosemary, zest and lemon juice, garlic and salt in food processor and whir to make a paste.

Place potatoes and fennel in a large roasting pan. Toss them with about a quarter of the olive paste mixture.

Remove any chicken innards and save for another use. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Cut out the backbone. Turn the chicken over and spread it flat, tucking wings under. Loosen the skin over the breast and legs and work the olive paste under the skin evenly over the bird. Place the bird over the vegetables in the pan. Season well with salt and pepper.

Bake at 425 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes until golden brown and no longer pink between the thigh and breast. 

Remove from oven. Pour wine over roasted vegetables and toss to deglaze the pan. Let chicken stand at least 10 minutes before carving.

Rating: Tasty Sunday night supper comfort food.