Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

This is a recipe from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer Series- As with many of Nigella's recipes this one is just assembly and perfect for entertaining. Get your butcher to chop the whole chicken into 10 pieces. A fantastic way to cook chicken as there is very little waste, delicious hot or cold and perfect served with roasties and veg or salads and bread.

The lemons and roasted garlic almost caramelise while cooking, which add a delicious flavour to the cooked chicken. I am always in search of "easy entertaining" recipes and this couldn't be simpler- just pop in the oven a couple of hours before your guests arrive and I love the fact that it is ready for the table straight from the oven.


Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

Ingredients
1 x 2-2.25kg Chicken cut into 10 pieces
2 heads Garlic separated into unpeeled cloves
2 unwaxed Lemons cut into chunky eighths
Bunch of fresh Thyme
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
150 ml white wine
Black pepper

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC/325°F/gas mark 3.
2. Put the chicken pieces into a roasting tin and add garlic cloves, lemon chunks and the thyme; just roughly pull the leaves off the stalks, leaving some intact for strewing over later.
3.Add the oil and using your hands mix everything together, then spread the mixture out, m aking sure all the chicken pieces are skin side up.
4. Sprinkle over the white wine and grind on some pepper, then cover tightly with foil and put in the oven to cook, at flavour-intensifying low heat, for 2 hours.
5. Remove the foil from the roasting tin, and turn up the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6.
Cook the uncovered chicken for another 30-45 minutes, by which time the skin on the meat will have turned golden brown and the lemons will have begun to scorch and caramelise at the edges.

Serve this as it is, straight from the roasting tin: so just strew with your remaining thyme and dole out.