Jamie Cooks Spring
By Jamie Oliver
Roast chicken springtime salad
With Roquefort salad & a French-style dressing
1 hr 25 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 6
About the recipe
Inspired by some of the wonderful ingredients and flavours of France, this salad is the perfect way to celebrate crisp new-season salad leaves at their best. Not only do we have a creamy, mustardy French-style dressing, we also have crispy lardons, crunchy croutons, the most succulent herb-spiked chicken and, to top it all off, a wonderful crumbling of Roquefort. Now THIS is a salad.
Recipe From
Ingredients
1 bunch of oregano (20g)
1 bulb of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
3 small onions
1 x 1.5kg higher-welfare whole chicken
2 knobs of unsalted butter
olive oil
4 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
2 thick slices of sourdough bread
4 large handfuls of mixed lettuce, such as oakleaf, little gem, lamb’s lettuce, or rocket
50g radishes
50g Roquefort cheese
1 handful of shelled unsalted walnuts
20g Parmesan cheese
optional: fresh chives or fennel tops
DRESSING
2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon runny honey
Top Tip
If you’re using lovely home-grown lettuces, remember to wash them two or three times to make sure you get rid of any extra little friends. No one wants a worm in their salad!
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Pick the oregano leaves into a pestle and mortar, add a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper, and pound into a paste. Peel and pound in 2 cloves of garlic, then muddle in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Halve the onions, leaving the skin on, cut the remaining garlic into 3 big chunks, and place it all cut-side down in a roasting tray.
- Use a sharp knife to cut through the chicken along the backbone, allowing you to open it out like a book. Press it flat with your hands, then pull up the skin at the tip of the breasts and use your finger or a spatula to gently separate the skin from the breast meat.
- Poke a knob of butter and some of the herby marinade into each pocket, then rub the rest of the marinade over the top of the chicken and sit it in the tray. Roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.
- Put a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Slice and add the bacon with a good pinch of black pepper, and cook until golden, tossing regularly, then remove, leaving the tasty fat behind.
- Chop the bread into rough cubes and sprinkle into the pan, tossing regularly until golden and crisp, then turn the heat off.
- For the dressing, whisk the mustard and vinegar with 3 tablespoons each of olive oil and extra virgin olive oil until smooth, add the honey, then season to perfection.
- Click apart your lettuce leaves, wash and spin dry, then arrange over a large serving platter. Finely slice and add the radishes, crumble over the Roquefort and walnuts, and finely grate over the Parmesan. Add the lardons and croutons, then drizzle over the dressing, to taste (save the rest in a clean jam jar in the fridge for another day). Finish with a few finely chopped chives or a scattering of fennel tops, if using.
- Carve up the chicken, plate up with the salad as you wish, and enjoy.
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