Black Olive Roast Chicken

We don't often have chicken, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much the olive-rosemary paste permeated the meat and the flavors of the potatoes and fennel. Although the roasting time is long on this, it's a pretty low effort meal. You could easily roast this with only thighs or breasts depending on your chicken meat preferences. Traunfeld recommends using a 6lb roaster to make stuffing the bird easier, but we used a smaller 3 or 4lb bird which was far more manageable for a group of 4. The extra herbed olive paste was appreciated too!

One year ago: Silver Packet Flounder with Miso Mayo
Two years ago: Garlicky Sesame Cured Broccoli Salad
Three years ago: Penne with a Cashew-Dill Sauce
Four years ago: Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake
Five years ago: Tomato and Sausage Risotto

Black Olive Roast Chicken (from The Herbal Kitchen)

Ingredients
Herbed Olive Paste
1/2 cup pitted oil-cured black olives
2 tbsp thyme leaves
3 tbsp rosemary leaves
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp olive oil
Rest
1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold (or other potatoes), cut into 2" chunks
2 fennel bulbs, white parts only, sliced 1" thick
1 roasting chicken

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Puree olive paste ingredients in food processor until smooth.
3. Put potatoes and fennel in roasting pan and dot with 1/4 of olive paste. Toss.
4. Using poultry sheers, cut along each side of chicken backbone to remove. Turn chicken over and spread it out flat. Loosen the skin over the breast, thigh, and leg and stuff the remaining olive paste under the skin.
5. Lay the chicken over the vegetables, positioning the legs so they point inwards.
6. Roast chicken for 50 - 70 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken) or until the skin is browned and juices run clear. Let the bird rest 10 - 20 minutes before carving.