Name: Roast Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Pear
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: serves 4 people
Ingredients: 1500 g whole chicken; 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 onions; 1 pear; 1 carrot; 1 celery stalk; 1 handful of prunes; 1 lemon; 2 large sweet potatoes

Roast Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Pear

Mmm, so delicious! This year our autumn has been wild. Our days are filled with cooking, styling, photography, design, meetings, phone calls and plans for the future. And meal planning has been saving our behinds. This recipe was our go to for a couple of weeks. So on a Monday, we would make this recipe and eat about a third with sweet potatoes, pears and prunes as a side and then on a Wednesday or Thursday we would eat the leftovers in a salad, pasta, minestrone or in a quick sandwich. This roast chicken is super tender and juicy and we are loving the sweetness from pears and prunes. Perfect for celebrations, Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Martin's and more. Delicious, easy and super tasty. Hope you are going to love it as much as we do.

Ingredients

Roast Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Pear

1500 g whole chicken

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions

1 pear

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

1 handful of prunes

1 lemon

2 large sweet potatoes

Tools and equipment

kitchen knife

baking dish

platter

METHOD

chicken

Preheat your oven to 220 °C / 430 °F. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Using a brush, gently brush the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper inside and out.
vegetables

Quarter the onions and the pear ( you don't have to peel it). Cut the carrots and celery on large chunks (about 2 cm / 1 inch)
chicken and vegetables

Line your baking dish (about 30 x 20 cm / 12 x 8 inch) with baking paper. Place the vegetables and prunes to the center of your baking dish. Then place the whole chicken on top of the vegetables. Cut the lemon in half, then stuff the cavity both halves of lemon.
chicken and vegetables

Rinse and pat dry your sweet potatoes. Cut them into large chunks ( approx. 4 x 4 cm / 1.5 x 1.5 inch). Add it to the sides of the baking dish, so that the chicken isn't covering the potatoes. Pour 50 ml of warm water into the baking dish.
bake

Place the baking dish into an oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 220 °C / 430 °F, then lower the heat to 180 °C / 350 °F and bake for another 50 minutes. Increase the temperature to 220 °C / 430 °F again and bake for the last 5 - 10 minutes or until the skin is golden and crispy.

Tip

The rule to baking a chicken is: 1. Bake for 20 minutes, then add another 20 minutes for every 450 - 500g (1 pound) of total weight of the chicken at 180 °C / 350 °F.
Serve

Remove the baking dish from the oven, transfer the chicken to a platter and let it rest for about 10 minutes, then serve with side dish or seasonal salad. Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days in a fridge.