Roast with lots of flavour but little faff

I find a full roast dinner a complex thing to cook well at home, and it always leaves me feeling slightly disappointed. The roast dinners I really enjoy are the ones served in restaurants, where there is a team of people making sure every ingredient is top notch. That’s what it needs – more than just one of you.

It’s a massive effort to get all the elements cooked properly and – this is the crucial part – ready at the same time. There’s always a chance that the vegetables will be over-cooked; worse than that, the beef could spend too long in the oven. I refuse to have anything pre-cooked, and I get so fixated on making sure that everything comes out of the oven at precisely the right time that I often end up having rock-hard carrots and soggy roast potatoes. Then the smoke alarm goes off… And I end up feeling stressed, doubting my ability as a chef and wondering where I went wrong.

The key to success is only having a few elements to bring together and being able to have some bits ready in advance. I’m now an advocate for, and regular maker of, roasts that are not the full shebang. And with some of the pressure removed, choosing a roast once again becomes a joyful cooking experience.

This roast chicken recipe is everything you’re looking for on a Sunday: simple to prepare, a comforting depth of flavour, and enough food that you’ll be satisfied. (It is so easy that if you want to add an extra vegetable dish, no problem!)

Serves 3-4. Ready in about 90 minutes.

free-range chicken 1, about 1.5kg

olive oil, flakey salt and cracked black pepper for rubbing over the chicken

lemon 1

rosemary 1 sprig

basil 50g

parsley 50g

dill 20g

For the lentils:

carrot 150g

celeriac 150g

white onions 2

garlic cloves 3

celery sticks 2

rosemary 5g (1-3 sprigs)

bay leaf 1

extra virgin olive oil 50g

puy lentils 200g

water 300ml

white wine 200g

For the aioli:

dijon mustard 40g

egg yolk 18g (about 1 yolk)

lemon juice of ½

garlic 2 cloves, grated

olive oil

salt

Start by preparing the lentils. Peel the carrots, celeriac, onion and garlic, and wash the celery. Dice all the vegetables as small as you can. Finely chop the rosemary.

Put the vegetables, rosemary and bay leaf into a pot along with the olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Give the vegetables a stir, put over a low heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

When the vegetables soften, add the lentils, water and white wine, cover the pot and cook for 45 minutes on a low heat, checking occasionally. The lentils are done when they’re soft and all the liquid has been absorbed.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4.

Get an ovenproof dish that will catch the chicken juices. Prepare the chicken by rubbing it with olive oil, flakey salt, and lots of cracked black pepper.

Put the whole lemon into the cavity along with the rosemary sprig, then set the chicken dish in the oven on the middle shelf and leave to roast, basting with its juices twice during the cooking time. A 1.5kg bird will take about 1 hour 10 minutes to cook; you’ll know when the meat is no longer pink, and when it’s pierced at the thickest part of the thigh and the juices run clear.

Meanwhile, make the aioli. Add the mustard, egg yolk, lemon juice, grated garlic and a pinch of salt to a food processor, and blitz. As the food processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until everything is incorporated and it’s the texture of thick mayonnaise. Set aside.

When the chicken is cooked, cover it with a clean tea towel and leave it to rest for 20 minutes. While you’re waiting, chop the basil, parsley and dill. Warm up the lentils and add in the herbs.

To carve the chicken, take the wings off; remove the legs and chop the drumstick and thigh in half along the joint. Remove the breast by running the knife down the breast bone and gently following the ribs, it should neatly come off; slice it in half.

Put the chicken on a warm plate and pour over all the juices that have collected in the cooking dish, remove the lemon from the cavity and carefully squeeze it all over the chicken.

Serve the chicken and lentils family style, in large bowls at the table.

Cod might seem unusual as a roast, but there’s something celebratory about it, and even better, won’t leave you feeling stressed at all. I love jerusalem artichokes, and this is a wonderful way to cook them and opens up a whole world of j-choke possibilities. Here, they’re made into a warm salad and served with the cod and a salsa verde, which is my favourite of all the sauces.

Serves 2. Ready in about 40 minutes.

jerusalem artichokes 350g

olive oil 4 tbsp

thyme 2 sprigs, leaves picked

salt for seasoning

cod 2 x 180g portions

kalamata olives 20g, stoned and halved lengthways

extra virgin olive oil

lemon ½, juice and zest

blood oranges 2, segmented

For the salsa verde:

chives 20g

extra virgin olive oil 80g

capers 40g

basil leaves 20g

parsley leaves 20g

dijon mustard 20g

red-wine vinegar 1 tbsp (I like merlot vinegar)

lemon 1, zested

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Scrub the jerusalem artichokes, put them in a pot of salted water and bring them to the boil, and let them bubble away for 4 minutes. Check them – they should be soft but not breaking apart. Remove and leave to cool on a non-stick baking tray.

Make the salsa verde. Put the chives in a food processor with the oil and blitz. Add the capers, basil and parsley and pulse twice. You are looking to make a rough paste.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, then add the mustard, vinegar, lemon zest and a pinch of salt and set aside.

Halve the cooled artichokes lengthways, then toss on the tray with 2 tbsp of the olive oil, the thyme and a good pinch of salt. Turn them all so they’re flesh-side down on the tray and roast for 20 minutes, or until the white flesh has turned golden.

Put an ovenproof frying pan over a low heat with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil. Pat the skin of the cod dry with kitchen paper, then season with salt. Once the pan is hot, place the cod in skin-side down and cook over a low heat for 4 minutes.

Release the cod from the base of pan with a fish slice, then leave it skin-side down and transfer the whole pan to the oven for 6 minutes.

While the cod is roasting, transfer the slightly cooled artichokes to a bowl. Add the olives, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the lemon zest and juice. Carefully add the blood orange segments and season with salt and pepper. Once the cod is cooked, serve with the artichoke salad and a spoonful of salsa verde.

Prop styling by Kate Whitaker; food styling by Bianca Nice