Roast chicken is definitely one of life’s simple pleasures. This beautiful meal is made complete with the wonderful flavors of chestnuts and fennel and served with a side of slightly sweet yams.
Roast Chicken with Chestnuts and Orange Yam Mash
Servings
4 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 bulb fennel cut into 8 large wedges
- 6 cipollini onions peeled and halved
- 1 4 to 5- pound whole organic chicken
- 1-2 tablespoons kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 sprig fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 3.5-ounce bag roasted chestnuts
- 3 yams or sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter or coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Arrange fennel and onions in the bottom of a roasting pan or heavy cast iron skillet. Rinse chicken with cold water, pat dry and set in the middle of the pan.
- Season inside cavities and outside of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Place thyme springs on top of vegetables and drizzle everything with olive oil.
- Roast uncovered for about 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Sprinkle chestnuts in roasting pan for last 15 minutes of roasting to heat.
- While chicken is roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add yams and simmer until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well and return to pot. Mash with a potato masher or fork and stir in orange juice and vegan butter or coconut oil.
A smaller, flat, pale onion. They are sweeter than garden-variety white or yellow onions, but not as sweet as shallots. The advantage to cipollinis is that they are small and flat and the shape lends them well to roasting. This combined with their sweetness makes for a lovely addition to recipes where you might want to use whole caramelized onions. But they can be hard to find so any onion, spanish or red quartered or whole shallots can be substituted.
Jamie
What is cipollini onions? Recipe sounds great.
Natalie