Chickens

2 whole chickens (about 1.6 kg each)
1 lemon, halved
a generous bunch of fresh lemon thyme
1 onion, halved
60 g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, softened
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Potatoes

1.2 kg (about 8 medium) floury potatoes such as King Edward or Sebago, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt

Gravy

2 tablespoons plain flour
125 ml (½ cup) white wine
500 ml (2 cups) good-quality chicken stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.  Place the roasting pan in the oven and preheat to 200°C. You want the pan hot when you add the chicken.

2.  Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and parboil for 10 minutes until just starting to soften at the edges but still firm in the centre. Drain well and leave to steam-dry in the colander for a few minutes – this is what gets you a crispy edge on the potato.

3.  Meanwhile, prepare the chickens. Rub the softened butter all over the skin of each bird, getting into all the crevices. Season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Push half a lemon and a few sprigs of lemon thyme into the cavity of each chicken.

4.  Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Place both chickens in the pan breast-side down and scatter the onion halves around them. Drizzle with olive oil and scatter over any remaining lemon thyme. Place the lid on the roaster and cook for one hour. If you don’t have a roaster with a lid, cover the pan tightly with foil for this first hour instead.

5.  Meanwhile, toss the drained potatoes in olive oil and season with salt. Tip onto a separate roasting tray and place in the oven with the chicken.

6.  Remove the roaster lid, increase the oven temperature to 220°C and cook for a further 20 minutes, or until the chickens are deeply golden and cooked through. To check, pierce the thickest part of the thigh – the juices should run completely clear. Rest the chickens loosely tented with foil on a board for at least 15 minutes before carving.

7.  While the chickens rest, make the creamed spinach (see recipe below).

8.  To make the gravy, carefully pour off most of the fat from the roaster, leaving behind the lovely sticky pan juices. Place the pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for a minute or so, scraping up all the caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble and reduce for a minute, then add the stock. Cook, stirring, for 5–8 minutes until the gravy is smooth and has reached your preferred consistency. Season to taste and strain into a warm jug.

9.  Carve the chickens and serve atop the spinach, with the roasted potatoes and plenty of gravy alongside.

Bringing it all together

The spinach, potatoes and gravy are the heart of this meal, but a couple of simple additions round it out beautifully. Roasted carrots or parsnips can go in the oven alongside the potatoes in that separate tray. Steamed broccolini or green beans dressed with a little butter and lemon are all you need alongside. A crisp green salad if you want something fresh. This is a proper table – lay it well and take your time over it.

What to do with the second chicken

Once the second chicken has cooled, wrap it well and refrigerate for up to three days. Here are a few ideas:

• The classic: pull the meat off the bone, pile into a sandwich with good Dijon mustard, dressed leaves and whatever pickles are in the fridge.
• Shred through pasta with olive oil, lemon, capers and parsley for a fast weeknight dinner.
• Slice over a grain bowl with leftover roast vegetables, a spoonful of creamed spinach and a tahini dressing.
• A quick chicken soup: simmer the shredded meat in stock with whatever vegetables you have, a handful of noodles or small pasta and plenty of seasoning.
• A toasted wrap with leftover creamed spinach, shredded chicken and a little hot sauce. 
• And when you’ve stripped the bones clean, don’t throw the carcasses away – see Annabelle’s stock recipe below.

Creamed Spinach

Serves 6–8
Prep 5 minutes 
Cook 10 minutes

This bright, delicious purée is a brilliant base for the roast chicken – or for anything, really. Frozen spinach works just as well as fresh here: it’s often higher in nutrients than spinach that has been sitting in a bag for a few days, it’s cheaper, there’s no washing or stemming involved, and for a purée, the texture difference is undetectable. Reach for it without guilt.

1 kg (about 2 large bunches) fresh English spinach, washed and tough stems removed, or 500 g frozen spinach, fully defrosted and squeezed dry
1 garlic clove, peeled
200 g (¾ cup) sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus more to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more to taste
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.  If using fresh spinach, place it in a large, deep frying pan over high heat with just the water still clinging to the leaves after washing. Cover and cook for 2–3 minutes, tossing once or twice, until completely wilted. Tip into a colander and press out as much liquid as you can – the spinach needs to be quite dry, or the purée will be watery. If using frozen spinach, squeeze it very firmly in a clean tea towel or press it well in a sieve to remove as much moisture as possible.

2. Return the spinach to the pan along with the garlic clove, sour cream, lemon juice and nutmeg. Warm over medium-low heat, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until hot.

3. Tip the mixture into a blender or use a stick blender to blitz it to a bright green purée. Season, then taste and adjust the lemon and nutmeg – it should be bright, creamy and just a little punchy. Return to the pan and keep warm over very low heat until ready to serve.

Note: This can be made up to a day ahead and reheated gently on the stovetop with a splash of water to loosen if needed.

Annabelle’s Chicken Stock

Makes approximately 2 litres

And don’t throw away those carcasses. The brilliant idea for making stock like this comes from my friend Annabelle, and it has completely changed how I think about the end of a roast chicken dinner.

I love having chicken stock in the fridge or freezer, but at the end of a lovely roast chicken dinner, it often feels like a bit of a bummer to get up, pull out the stockpot, chop up more things and make stock. This is the magic moment of a meal: everyone’s eaten their fill, the candles are glowing, we’re topping up the wine and sitting back, having good chats. I don’t want to miss that. So instead, here’s what we do – thank you, Annabelle – take the chicken carcass, put it in an old ice cream container or whatever you have, and put it in the freezer.

Over the next week or so, whenever you have extra parsley stalks, celery or carrot ends, fennel trimmings or whatever aromatics you would normally put into stock, add them to the container. When you’ve got time and ideally two carcasses in the container – the one prerequisite for this to work is adequate freezer space, something I struggle with, to be honest – tip everything into your slow cooker. Peel and roughly chop a couple of onions, throw in a tablespoon or so of black peppercorns and pop the lid on. Cook on low for 24 hours or so, then strain and freeze.