Original recipe of the week: Roast Chicken and Baby Potatoes

Take a look at this super-simple recipe for a roast chicken dinner, served with some lovely baby potatoes on the side. We swap out the traditional English herbs for some aromatics like cardamom pods and cloves, baked in a self-basting roaster, which means you can throw in the chicken and all the other ingredients and go and relax while this recipe works for itself!

Roast Chicken and Baby Potatoes

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

What you will need:

1 small whole chicken
1 tbsp red pepper paste (easily found in Turkish and Middle Eastern shops)
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp salt
10 black peppercorns
5 cardamom pods
4 cloves
8 unpeeled cloves of garlic
Half a lemon, quartered
½ medium red chilli, finely sliced
½ medium green chilli, finely sliced
14 baby potatoes

What you need to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 200^oC.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together the red pepper paste, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp of the olive oil to make a paste.

3. Place the chicken in the self-basting roaster and rub in the paste all over the top of the chicken.

4. Scatter in the peppercorns, cardamom, cloves, chillies, garlic and lemon quarters.

5. Cover with the lid and place in the oven for one hour.

6. As soon as you’ve put the chicken in the oven, place the potatoes in salted water and boil for 20 minutes.

7. Remove the potatoes and drain them, before placing them in a roasting tray.

8. Using a sharp knife, score the tops lightly, drizzle with the remaining olive oil, and season with some salt and pepper.

9. Place in the oven and roast for half an hour, turning half way in between.

10. After one hour, remove the chicken from the oven and check it is cooked through by scoring a knife through the breast – it should be nice and tender. Another trick is to lift the chicken from the oven and make sure the juices run nice and clear.

11. Serve with a side of greens if you wish, and make the most of the delicious juices from the chicken drizzled over the potatoes.