Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
- 1 nice whole chicken (2 kg / 4.4 lb)
- olive oil
- 2 red onions, halved lengthwise
- 1 head garlic
- 1 generous handful mixed fresh herbs (tarragon, parsley, marjoram…)
- Salt, pepper
- 1 lemon (optional)
- 1 Tbsp flour or starch (cornstarch or potato starch)
On a cutting board, finely chop the herbs with a knife. Season with salt and pepper and add a drizzle of olive oil. Slide the herbs under the skin of the chicken and massage the chicken with olive oil (with your hands, wearing gloves). Insert the lemon, warmed slightly (if using), then truss the chicken and place it in a baking dish with the onions, cut into quarters, and the garlic, which you will have arranged in the dish beforehand.
Bake for 1 hour at 220°C (425°F) (no preheating: putting the chicken into a cold oven keeps it from drying out). Take the chicken out of the oven. For the sauce, you have two options: serve it as is, or heat it in a saucepan with the cornstarch until it thickens.
Carve the chicken, arrange it on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over it or serve it in a gravy boat on the side.
Tips and variations
- This chicken is also excellent served cold the next day; the juices will have turned into a delicious roast chicken jelly.