Roasted Garlic Chicken

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Cut the very top of each garlic head to open the garlic cloves. Cut the lemon in halves and place one half together with garlic in a small baking dish, generously add good quality olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for half an hour until garlic becomes soft and tender. Remove the dish from the oven and let the garlic and lemon cool.
3. While the garlic is in the oven prepare the carrots. Wash the carrots and peel them if needed. Wash the stems, pick the leaves and chop them finely.
4. When the garlic is cool enough to handle it slide the softened cloves out into a bowl. Then squeeze the roasted lemon juice into the same bowl and add the chopped carrot leaves (you can optionally save some to sprinkle the chicken before roasting). Mix it all together in a puree and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
5. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
6. Cover the chicken and carrots with the garlic mixture. If you cook chicken with skin you can also place some of the puree between the skin and the breast. We usually remove the skin to reduce the quantity of fat in the dish. Cut the remaining half of lemon into 5-6 pieces and place it together with the chicken and carrots in the backing dish which you used to cook garlic. If you have some garlic puree left this is the time to add it to the baking dish. Sprinkle with a little bit of olive oil, remaining carrot leaves, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
7. Place the dish in the oven and roast chicken for 35-40 min, then turn the heat up to 220°C and roast another 20 min or until your chicken becomes as golden as you wish it to be.
8. Remove the dish from the oven and serve the chicken with carrots and a peace of roasted lemon. Bon Appétit!