Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken with Lemons is simply perfection! Using only 4 ingredients, you will produce the juiciest bird with the crispiest skin. Her orginal recipe, which you can acquire easily online, uses a 3-4 pound chicken along with rather small lemons. It seems to be difficult to find a small chicken here in poultry country. So, adapting this recipe to a bit larger bird(roaster) is my current challenge.
More pictures will be available the next time I make it. People just couldn’t wait ! I guess that testifies to how delicious it truly is! Let’s begin…
Chicken:
- Remove chicken from packaging as well as any giblets inside its cavity.
- Rinse chicken inside and out with COLD water.
- Tilt on a plate to allow any residual water to drain out for about 10 minutes.
- Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. (Even Julia Child says drying the skin will assist the browning of meat.)
- Generously salt and pepper the body and inside the cavity. ( I used sea salt.) Rub in with your fingers.
Lemons:
- Wash and dry lemons in cold water.
- Roll them back and forth on the counter firmly with the palm of your hand.
- Puncture each with a round toothpick at least 20 times.
- Place both inside the cavity of the chicken. These were 2 regular-sized lemons which fit snugly inside the larger bird. Her recipe called for 2 rather small lemons for the 3-4# bird.
Prep for Oven:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Close up the cavity with toothpicks as shown or a trussing needle and string. There should be small gaps and not tightly closed.
- Using kitchen string, tie at both knuckle ends while leaving them in their natural position. Don’t pull tight!
Roast:
- Place chicken breast-side down in roasting pan on middle rack for 40 minutes. There is no need to spray/oil pan beforehand.
- Remove pan to stove top and gently rock chicken side to side; it should release without the skin sticking.
- Turn over and place breast-side up for 40 minutes.
- Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees for an additional 20 minutes to crisp the skin. Check for an internal temperature of 165 degrees !
Finished! Let’s eat!
Pull out the toothpicks and remove the string from the knuckles. Remove the lemons whole and do not squeeze the juice from them! As tempting as it might be to do, the subtle lemon flavor has already been perfectly infused into the chicken. Just wait until you take the first bite, which I guarantee you will do as you slice the chicken for serving. Save the pan drippings to drizzle over the meat or side dishes of your choosing. I’ll add more pics the next time I roast one, but for now, you can just drool anticipating a bite.
Refrigerate any leftovers promptly in a glass container. Warm it up or eat it cold, if you can’t wait.
Ingredients
- 5-6 lb whole chicken
- 2 medium lemons
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ with center rack in place. Remove or reposition rack above it.
Chicken
- Remove any giblets. Wash chicken inside and out with COLD water.
- Remove any excess bits of fat.
- Tilt chicken on a plate for at least 10 minutes to drain out any residual water.
- Pat dry thoroughly, inside and out, with paper towels.
- Generously salt and pepper all over the body and inside the cavity. Rub it in on the outside.
Lemons:
- Wash and dry lemons in cold water.
- Roll back and forth on the counter firmly with the palm of your hand.
- Puncture each one at least 20 times with a round toothpick.
- Place both inside the cavity of the chicken
Prep for Oven:
- Close up cavity with toothpicks, weaving once on each side, or use a trussing needle. There should be a breathable space to allow for expansion. In other words, DO NOT close it completely. Room for expanasion while cooking is necessary.
- Using kitchen string, tie at both knuckle ends while leaving them in their natural position. DO NOT PULL TIGHT!
- Place in a roasting pan, breast side down. Bake for about 40 minutes.
- Gently rock chicken from side to side to release chicken from bottom of pan/rack without breaking the skin. Carefully flip over to place breast side up and bake at 350℉ for about 40 minutes.
- Increase oven temperature to 400℉ while breast side up and continue to bake for and additional 20 minutes to crisp the skin.
- Total bake time should be 20-25 minutes per pound.Example:5 # about 1 hour 40 minutesBreast down at 350℉ 40 minsBreast up at 350℉ 40 minsBreast up at 400℉ 20 mins to crisp the skinALWAYS check for an internal temperature of 165℉ !
