Roast Chicken for Lazy People

We both felt like we had our go-to roast chicken recipes, but so many people recommended we try this recipe when we announced that Around my French Table (by @doriegreenspan ) was our cookbook club pick, that we had to include it in our menu! Thank goodness we did! This recipe is SO easy and SO good. Here is our version of her recipe… You can also watch us make this chicken, step-by-step, on a video that’s saved on our YouTube channel!

Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons butter at room temp
As many thick slices of rustic bread (ciabatta, sourdough, or baguette) that you can fit in the bottom of the pan - this is the best part!!
1 whole chicken, about 4.5 pounds
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 sprigs each rosemary, thyme, and oregano
1 garlic head, cut horizontally in half, unpeeled
2/3 cup dry white wine
4 baby potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
2 carrots, trimmed, peeled, and cut into chunks
4 Shallots, left hole, or one onion, quartered

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°.

Bring your chicken to room temperature, this takes about one hour.

Rub the inside of a Dutch oven or other large high side of casserole dish with oil and place the bread in the pot. Pat your chicken dry with a paper towel and rub the butter all over the chicken. Season the chicken inside and out liberally with salt and pepper and add a half sprig of each of the herbs as well as 1/2 of the garlic inside the cavity. Put the chicken in the pot, resting it on the bread. Put the other half of garlic in the pot, along with the remaining herbs, and pour in a few tablespoons of oil and the wine.

Slide the pot into the oven. Once the chicken has roasted for 45 minutes, tossed the potatoes, carrots and shallots with enough olive oil to give them a shine, seasoning generously with salt and pepper, and scatter them around the chicken. Roast the chicken undisturbed for about 45 minutes more- A total of about 90 minutes, or until the skin is crackly and crisp and the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh with the tip of a knife. Remove the chicken from the oven.

Let it rest under a foil tent for 5 to 10 minutes befo serving.