Fast roast chicken with bread sauce and silverbeet
For the chicken
- 4 chicken marylands
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- sea salt
- black pepper
For the bread sauce
- 500ml milk
- 1 onion, stuck with 6 cloves
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 bay leaf
- 60g fresh breadcrumbs
For the silverbeet
- 1kg silverbeet
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp grated lemon zest (use a zester for long thin strips)
This is the mid-week version of roast chicken, ready in 45 minutes.
Method
· For the chicken: Heat the oven to 200C. Place chicken on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, scatter with oregano, salt and pepper, and bake for 40 minutes until golden and crisp-skinned.
· For the sauce: In a pan, simmer the milk, onion, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf for 20 minutes then leave to cool. Strain the milk and return it to the cleaned pan. Add the breadcrumbs and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve warm or at room temperature - it will thicken further as it cools.
· For the silverbeet: Wash the silverbeet and roughly chop. Cook the stems in a small amount of simmering salted water for 10 minutes, then add the leaves and cook for 3 minutes, covered, until glossy and wilted. Drain well and toss with olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
· Serve the chicken on the silverbeet with the bread sauce.
Serves 4
Hot Tip
Home-made breadcrumbs are better than bought and they use up the stale bread, too. Either whiz stale crustless bread briefly in a food processor, or crumble it between your palms into a bowl.
