Garlic Butter-Roast Chicken with Lemon Thyme Stuffing

Roast chicken is a staple in our household, and when I’m short on time and don’t want to spend ages standing at the stove cooking, I simply rub a chook with seasoning, pour over melted butter and pop it in the oven. What’s more, I always use any leftover meat in filled rolls or sandwiches the next day and save the cooked carcass for making chicken stock or soup. For next-level roast chook definitely make the lemon thyme stuffing.

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Instructions

1.	Heat oven to 200°C.
2.	To make the stuffing, break the bread into small pieces by hand, or in a food processor.
3.	Combine all stuffing ingredients in a bowl, mixing with your hands to combine.
4.	Pat chicken with paper towels to dry completely.
5.	Season liberally with salt and pepper, inside and out.
6.	Stuff the chicken cavity with the quartered lemon, then a small handful of tarata leaves, and lastly the stuffing.
7.	Tie the legs together using twine or flax.
8.	Place the remaining bunches of tarata and the halved garlic bulbs in the bottom of a roasting dish – this becomes a fragrant bed for the chicken to sit on.
9.	Place the chicken breast-side-up in the roasting pan.
10.	Mix together the melted butter, olive oil and crushed garlic, and pour over the chicken.
11.	Roast the chicken for 1½ hours until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and a thigh, basting once or twice with the juices and butter that accumulate in the pan.
12.	Remove from the oven, transfer the chicken, tarata leaves and garlic to a serving dish, cover with foil and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
13.	While the chicken rests, make the gravy. Spoon off any excess fat from the roasting dish, and place the dish over a medium heat.
14.	Add any juices from the resting chicken.
15.	Add the flour and stir into the juices until combined.
16.	Add the water a little at a time, stirring through after each addition.
17.	Simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly, and scraping all the sticky roasted bits from the bottom of the pan.
18.	Add more water if necessary to get to your desired consistency.
19.	Add the soy sauce, which will help to colour up the gravy as well as flavour it. Season with salt to taste, if necessary.
20.	Pour gravy into a jug and serve alongside the roast chicken, smashed potatoes and seasonal greens.