Harissa roast chicken

Sasha's family have come to visit for a few days for her birthday on the 5th and I've decided to prepare an evening meal for the night before. After a lovely day out in Ilkley, a simple supper was required. There is little more pleasurable than the smell of a chicken roasting; with that and our love for North African inspired food, it seemed fitting to combine flavours from this continent with the traditional British roast dinner. Of course, the end result is naturally very far from that which we would expect to find on our plates on a Sunday!

Harissa roast chicken

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1.8 kg whole chicken

2 1/2 tbsp harissa paste 

1 1/2 tsp Ras el Hanout

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander
Juice of half a lemon
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Notes - Harissa is known to be rather hot, if you want to use less don't hesitate, but don't use less than 1 1/2 tbsp for this sized chicken. We used Al'Féz harissa but you can easily make your own or other brands if you prefer. If you want, you can prepare it in advance either a few hours before or the night before leaving it to marinate in the fridge (take it out an hour before roasting to allow it to come to room temperature).

Method

1. Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 8. Prepare your chicken by dabbing the skin with kitchen paper, place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

2. Prepare your paste - add all the other ingredients into a small bowl and mix together thoroughly. Apply to your chicken coating the whole thing evenly and shove the lemon halves into the cavity (Warning - If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves to do this or ask someone else who doesn't mind to do it for you as, the chilli in harissa could irritate your skin). Place your chicken on a trivet in a roasting tray - there's nothing worse than an overly greasy chicken and this is meant to be light and not at all heavy on the stomach.

3. Place the roasting tray holding your chicken into the centre of your preheated oven and instantly turn the temperature down to Gas Mark 4. Cook your chicken for 20 minutes per 1 lb/500 g, plus an extra 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear. Baste your chicken with the fat that naturally comes off the chicken once or twice throughout this time. The paste naturally goes dark/black so please don't worry. If you are worried then just place a bit of foil over the chicken for the remainder of the cooking time.

4. Allow your chicken to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving and meanwhile prepare sides. As this was a quick light meal, we had lemon cous cous, salad and a dollop of coleslaw.

Definitely a dish worth making! It's easy and full of flavour!