One-Pot Roast Chicken with Ratatouille and Green Olives
This clever one-pot recipe is a summery spin on a classic roast chicken. A medley of summer vegetables and tinned cherry tomatoes are roasted with the chicken, creating a gorgeous ratatouille that can be spooned over before serving.
Introduction
There are two types of ratatouille – the posh one where each ingredient is cooked separately and brought together once cooked, or this much more favourable version where all those gorgeous summer vegetables are slowly stewed until jammy, almost chutney-like. The chicken roasting juices in this recipe take it above and beyond. I make lots of different versions of this using only one of the ratatouille veg, or just going for tomatoes and olives, but for a true celebration of summer I bring them all together. My family like rice with this, but I prefer little garlic-and-rosemary-studded roast potatoes that make use of the spare shelf in the oven.
Ingredients
| 1 (about 1.5kg/3lb 5oz) | whole chicken |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 | aubergine (eggplant), chopped into chunks |
| 1–2 | courgettes (zucchini), chopped into chunks |
| 1 | red onion, roughly chopped |
| 1 | red (bell) pepper, deseeded and chopped into chunks |
| 1 | yellow (bell) pepper, deseeded and chopped into chunks |
| 3 | garlic cloves, finely sliced |
| 1 tbsp | red wine vinegar |
| 2 x 400g (14oz) tins of | cherry tomatoes |
| 1 tsp | golden caster (superfine) sugar |
| 1 tsp | dried oregano |
| large sprig of | thyme |
| 2 handfuls of | green olives, pitted |
| small handful of | basil, leaves torn and stalks kept and tied together |
| salt and freshly ground black pepper |
Method
Season the chicken well all over – if you have time to do this a good few hours or even a day ahead and keep it in the fridge, it will make a big difference.
Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 7. Warm the oil in a large, flameproof roasting tin or casserole dish, then lower in the chicken and brown it all over for 15–20 minutes, turning carefully with tongs, until golden on all sides – watch out, it will splutter hot fat. Lift onto a plate while you cook the veg.
Throw the aubergine and courgettes into the same roasting tin and cook for 5 minutes until starting to soften. Scatter in the onion and peppers and cook for another 5–8 minutes until everything’s golden and slightly collapsed. Stir through the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Pour in the vinegar and let it bubble for a few seconds. Tip in the tomatoes, sprinkle over the sugar and oregano, then stir in the thyme, olives and the basil stalks. Season generously and stir.
Sit the chicken back on top, breast-side up, then roast uncovered for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until the chicken is golden and cooked through. Let it rest in the roasting tin for 10 minutes, then scatter over the torn basil leaves.
Lift the chicken from the roasting tin, letting any juices from the cavity pour back into the ratatouille, then carve the chicken into chunky pieces and place on plates with the ratatouille spooned over straight from the tin.
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