ROAST CHICKEN

There's no fuss with this recipe just simple, amazing flavour. Sage, lemon, butter, garlic. Oh, and a cracking gravy.

My nostrils are tickling. Let's have some chicken. 

MY FAVOURITE ROAST CHICKEN

serves 4-6

30g butter, softened

2 cloves garlic

1.5kg free-range chicken, giblets removed, room temperature

6 sage leaves

1/2 lemon

olive oil, for drizzling

1/2 tsp plain flour 

100ml white wine

200ml chicken stock or hot water

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas 6. 

Mix the butter with the garlic in a bowl and season. Place the chicken on a roasting tray and loosen the skin from the neck. Gently push your fingers up and under the skin, taking care not to tear it. Slide up the softened butter and massage the skin to spread the butter across the breast. Then, slide the sage leave so that they sit flattened between the butter and flesh. When the skin crisps, the sage leaves will to. Tuck the skin under the bird.

Press the lemon into the chicken cavity. Drizzle the bird with olive oil and season with sea salt flakes. 

Put the chicken in the oven and roast at the high oven temperature for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180C/fan160C/gas 4, roasting for a further 50 minutes until the juices from the chicken run clear.
Transfer the chook to a large board. Leave the chicken to rest, loosely covered with foil, while you make the gravy.

Pour the juices from the roasting tin into a small pan with the flour. Whisk the juices so the flour is soaked up, then add the wine. Turn up the heat and boil for 2 minutes before adding the stock/water. Simmer for 5 minutes, strain and serve. Perfect with mashed potato and buttery carrots. 

WILD GARLIC AND RICOTTA RAVIOLI

We made these fresh, filled 'lunette' for Rosie and Jim's on Sunday and they went down a treat.

The wild garlic filling makes a vivid, pea green centre for the ravioli, splashing colour onto the plate when you cut through, like the perfect poached egg. 

Substitute the filling with fresh garlic and peppery rocket or artichoke hearts and fennel seed.
Serve as a light starter for a springtime lunch.

WILD GARLIC AND RICOTTA RAVIOLI

serves 4 and 20

PASTA

FOR 4                                                                                 FOR 20

400g 00 flour                                                                      1kg 00 flour

pinch salt                                                                            heavy pinch salt

4 free range eggs                                                                10 free range eggs

(roughly one egg per 100g flour)

FILLING

FOR 4                                                                                 FOR 20

1 bunch wild garlic, stems removed, flowers set aside      3 bunches wild garlic

200g ricotta                                                                        600g ricotta
50g Parmesan, grated                                                         200g Parmesan, grated

pinch nutmeg                                                                     1 tsp nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

BUTTER

FOR 4                                                                                 FOR 20

200g butter                                                                         500g butter

1/2 bunch sage, finely chopped, stems removed               1 1/2 bunch sage

1 garlic clove                     

Pour the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs to the well and beat evenly with a fork, gently incorporating the flour. When the mixture starts to form a more solid shape, use your hands, mixing in the flour until the dough loses most of its stick. 

Flour a table and take the dough from the bowl. Knead the dough for about 4 minutes until smooth, elastic, and silky. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge to rest for up to 2 hours. 

Bring a pan of water to the boil and throw in the wild garlic. Blanch for 1 minute, drain, and refresh under cold water. When cooled, squeeze the garlic to remove excess water. 

Place the garlic with the ricotta into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the Parmesan, nutmeg, and a generous helping of salt and pepper. Cover, and place in the fridge to firm up.

Lay a tray with floured baking parchment ready for the ravioli.

Remove the pasta dough from the fridge and cut into bits roughly the size of the palm of your hand. If using a pasta machine (recommended) set to 1 and feed the dough through. Fold three times and feed through again. 

Set the machine to two and repeat. 

Now set the machine to 5 and feed through once. If making by hand, roll to roughly 2 mm thick. This will be thin enough to give you a light but firm enough ravioli.

Cut the dough with a 3 inch round cutter, making two leaves for each raviolo. 

Take the filling from the fridge. Fill the centre of one leaf of pasta with a tsp of the wild garlic. Place another leaf on top and press around the outside with your fingers so the dough sticks together. Making sure each side of the raviolo has been lightly floured, place on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the pasta and filling. 

Once made, the ravioli can be covered and put back the fridge until ready to use.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan, adding the garlic clove. Skim off any white froth and curd from the top, remove the garlic and add the chopped sage and salt.

When ready to serve, heat up the butter, and bring a large pan or two of salted water to the boil. Gently drop in the ravioli. When they float to the top, scoop out with a slotted spoon and place into bowls. 

Serve with the sage butter, the wild garlic flowers and a pinch of sea salt flakes.

- Too much pasta? Roll it up into a ball and freeze for another lunch -

ROSIE AND JIM'S POTATOES

CRUSHED NEW POTATOES

from Rosie and Jim's Sunday Lunch club
(Served with slow roast pork belly)

Serves 20 hungry Sunday lunchers

ingredients

butter and olive oil or juice from roasting meat
4kg new potatoes
2 large onions, roughly chopped, sliced and diced
1 large bunch sage, roughly chopped
lots of salt and pepper

Set the oven to 200C.

Meanwhile add the potatoes to a pan or two of cold water and bring to the boil. Turn to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes until they slide off a knife if poked. Drain and transfer to a large roasting tray.

Press down on the potatoes with the bottom of a saucepan so that they flatten and crack. Even better if some are mashed completely.

If you have any fat from roasting meat (I used the leftover fatty juices from pork belly - oink) then pour it over in abundance and toss through. If not, use melted butter and lots of olive oil. Sprinkle over the sage leaves, distribute the onion and throw on the salt and pepper. Pop the tray in the oven and leave for an hour or so to crisp up.

Try these alternatives for jazzing up the

BEEF - fresh horseradish/ gherkins (add at the end)
CHICKEN - pancetta/ sausages/ Parmesan
LAMB - mint/ wild garlic/ chilli
COD - tarragon/ capers/ garlic/ chorizo
NUT ROAST - parsley/ Gruyere