Two lemon chicken

This recipe from Marcella Hazan’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” is the easiest and most delicious chicken recipe I’ve made. I get tons of compliments anytime I make it, and friends always ask for the recipe. I can recite it by heart. Here goes.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

2 lemons

salt

pepper

Equipment:

roasting pan

trussing string

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Rinse each lemon and then jab about 20 holes into each (I use a kabob stick to do this).

3) Rinse your chicken, pat dry with paper towels, and remove the sweet meats from inside

4) Stuff the lemons inside. If they won’t fit, then halve or quarter them and shove as many inside as you can. To keep the lemons from falling out, tie the legs together with the trussing string.

5) Place the chicken breast side down on the pan and salt and pepper generously.

6) Cook for 30 minutes.

7) Take chicken out of oven and flip over, salt and pepper, and return to oven.

8) Bake an additional 30 minutes.

9) Take chicken out of oven and flip over again. It should be breast side down now.

10) Return to oven and crank it up to 400 degrees and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Leave the lemons in, and serve at the table. Spoon the juices that spill out onto the servings.

This recipe is so simple and during the baking intervals, I prepare the side dishes.

Turning the bird can be awkward, but I just grab it with my oven mitts and turn it.

You can also add your own variations to this recipe. Here’s a picture of the last time I made this. You can see that I threw carrots, potatoes, asparagus, onions, chicken broth, and fresh rosemary to roast under the chicken.

Happy cooking!

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