Roast Chicken with Blood Oranges & Fennel Recipe

Ingredients

FOR THE CHICKEN:
1.7kg whole, organic chicken
2 blood oranges
1 red chilli
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
50g honey
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 blood oranges
2 fennel bulbs
100g pitted black olives
2 tbsp olive oil
100g rocket

Prep: 30 mins | Cook: 1 hr 45 mins Remember to allow 30 mins resting time after the chicken is cooked to make sure it is juicy when you carve it.

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Method

1. Put your chicken in a large roasting tin and let it come to room temperature. Heat your oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/Gas 5.

2. Finely grate the zest from 2 blood oranges into a bowl. Squeeze in the juice. Halve the chilli, scoop out the seeds and white pith and then mince it as finely as you can. Add to the bowl. Peel and grate or crush the garlic and add those too. Finely chop the rosemary leaves and stir them in with the honey and a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Pour the blood orange sauce over the chicken, making sure you cover all the chicken. Loosely cover the chicken with foil, scrunching it onto the sides of the tin to seal it. Slide into the oven and roast for 1 hr.

4. While the chicken is roasting, prepare the remaining blood oranges and fennel. Quarter 3 blood oranges and pop them in a bowl. Halve the fennel bulbs. Slice each half into 4 wedges. Add to the bowl with the olives (pitting them, if necessary). Drizzle in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Turn to coat in the oil. Set aside.

5. Take the chicken out of the oven and remove the foil. Tuck the fennel, blood oranges and olives around the chicken. Return to the oven and roast the chicken and veg for 45 mins, till the veg are tender and sticky and the chicken is cooked all the way through.

6. Transfer the chicken to a board and rest it for 30 mins, loosely covered with foil. Arrange the rocket on a platter and heap the fennel, orange and olives up on it. Drizzle any sticky juices from the chicken roasting tin over the top. Carve the chicken and serve with the salad.