Classic Roasted Chicken and Rosemary

Who doesn’t love a roasted chicken? The smell of chicken roasting in the oven is enough to fall in love! Roasting a whole chicken is pretty simple to do, as long as you have a thermometer you can’t go wrong. The combination of rosemary and lemon is wonderful with chicken! Serve this with roasted vegetables on the side and use the leftover chicken bones to make a wonderful stock.

Trussing the bird first, before roasting, helps to ensure that the chicken cooks evenly, and that its breast meat remains moist and not dried out.

To make a stock I put the whole carcass in a pot of water with onions, celery, garlic, parsley and fresh herbs and let is simmer slowly all day, then use the stock for recipes that call for chicken stock or broth. You can also freeze the stock in ice-cube trays to use for winter chicken noodle soup!

It’s a dish I know everyone will love and leftovers are always great for chicken salad or sandwiches.

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Ingredients

1 5-6 lb chicken, washed and dried
1/2 onion, chopped in large chunks
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 lemon, halved
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 tbsp dried herbes de Provence, or dried rosemary
kosher salt and fresh pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 425F.
Season chicken inside and out with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary.
Squeeze half of the lemon on the outside of the chicken and stuff the remains of the lemon along with onion, garlic, rosemary sprigs inside the chicken. Transfer to a sheet pan, and tie the chicken by taking kitchen twine and plumping up the breast, then coming around with the string to lasso the legs and tie them together. Don’t forget to tuck the wing tips under themselves so they don’t burn.
Roast the chicken with the feet towards the back of the oven, until the juices run clear, and internal temperature is 160°F, about 50-60 minutes (Insert thermometer between the thickest part of the leg and the thigh).
Let the bird rest for 10 minutes, tenting with foil before carving.
Serve chicken, either one breast, or one thigh/drumstick, skin is optional.