The Lovell Table

Spatchcocking a chicken sounds a little intimidating, but actually makes cooking a whole bird way quicker and easier.

I roast a whole chicken almost every week- it’s one of those habits that just makes life easier. The bones become stock and the leftovers can turn into lunches or even more dinners.

Make this recipe and then use the bones to make chicken stock as well. Click here for the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 6-10 basil leaves
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 1 bag of baby potatoes (halved)
• 3-4 carrots (cut into 1 inch pieces)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Prepare the vegetables:
   • In a large baking dish, toss potatoes and carrots with 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and olive oil and then set aside
3. Spatchcock the chicken: 
   • Remove any giblets or the neck from the cavity
   • Pat the chicken dry with paper towels
   • Place the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board
   •  Using kitchen scissors, start at the tail end and cut along one side of the backbone. Repeat this on the other side to completely remove the backbone
   • Flip the chicken over and use your hands to press down on the center of the breastbone until the chicken lies flat
4. Finish the chicken
   • Sprinkle the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt
   • Tuck the basil leaves underneath the skin of the chicken breasts
   • Mix the butter with the pesto and spread all over the chicken
   • Place the chicken over the vegetables in the baking dish
5. Bake
   • Bake for 55 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (165 degrees) and when you poke the thickest part of the chicken with a knife clear liquid emerges