Author Notes
Nothing beats a roasted chicken. I always point new cooks in the direction of Ina's roasted chicken with croutons. It's s staple. When I make roasted chicken I think the most important step is buying a good chicken. We have quite a few farms in Maryland that do beautiful pastured chicken - that's what you want here. The chicken should sing - be very "chicken-y" and the veg sweet. Roasting is all about concentrating flavors - start with good ingredients and you can't go wrong. Fall perfection. For weeknight cooking - use your convection oven. It get the job done much faster. —meganvt01
Ingredients
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1
4 lb pastured chicken
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Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
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1
Large Red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
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2 cups
Peeled carrots
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2
Small delicata squash, cut into rings with seeds removed
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1 tablespoon
Maple syrup
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Olive oil
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3
Sprigs fresh thyme
Directions
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In the morning before dinner, generously season your chicken with kosher salt. Let sit on a plate open in your fridge for a few hours. The salt helps season the meat and dries the skin so it will be crispy.
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Preheat your oven to 425 (or 400 for convection). On a baking sheet place your chicken and drizzle it with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes. Toss onion, carrots, and delicate squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add thyme. Add onion, carrots and delicate squash to baking sheet. Roast for 30-40 (time may be shorter for convection - start testing it after 20-25 minutes - you don't want to overcook your chicken.) more minutes until the veggies are caramelized and chicken is cooked through and crispy (this will depend on the size of your chicken - it should be 180 degrees in the thigh).
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Remove the chicken and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Drizzle maple syrup on roasted veggies. Toss and put on a large platter.
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carve the chicken - I like to remove the legs and thighs then cut off the breast and chop into 4 pieces. Place chicken atop maple veggies.
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