A Simple Mediterranean spice-roast chicken

from Hot Hot Hot! By Paul Gayler

(One of our favourite cook books)

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons chopped coriander
  • 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoons cumin seed
  • 1 ½ tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 150ml olive oil
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 tablespoons Harissa paste
  • 1 x 1.5kg roasting chicken
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200c

In a large bowl, mix together the coriander, parsley, cumin seed, paprika, turmeric and spice mixture and leave to marinate for 2 hours.

Roast in the oven for 1-1 ¼ hours until the chicken is golden all over and the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted near the thigh bone.

Leave to rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving.

Hot Tip This is nice filled with a fruity couscous stuffing before roasting. Simply cook couscous in some stock to which a little saffron has been added, then mix in some chopped no-need to soak dried figs, prune and apricots, chopped coriander leaves and season to taste.