“Red Pesto” Roasted Chicken

For a long period of my life, the idea of roasting an entire chicken scared me.  I felt intimidated by the task and was worried that if I was to miss my recipe, I would feel twice as bad because I’ll be wasting an entire bird.  What I didn’t know, is that making a finger licking good roasted chicken is actually quit easy AND the possibilities are endless once you understand the basic rules.  Today I felt like using the new “pesto” powder I had made a few days before with the fresh basil leaves growing in my garden.  I’ve also been harvesting quit a lot of fresh tomatoes from my plants and this recipe was the perfect occasion to use them.

I called this recipe “red pesto” chicken because of the prominent taste of the pesto powder and the nice red color that comes from the juicy roasted tomatoes.  I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe, make sure to keep all the  juices and left over tomatoes from the pan because in my next post, I’ll be showing you how to make a delicious and filling soup with it.

– INGREDIENTS –

1 whole raw chicken (3lbs)

2 teaspoons of pesto powder

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1 teaspoon of sriracha sauce

1 cup of water

1 cup of cherry tomatoes half moons

For the rub:

3 teaspoons of duck fat  (butter/margarine work fine)

1 teaspoon of dried Vietnamese coriander

1 teaspoon of pesto powder

2 teaspoons of roasted sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil

2 teaspoons of tomato paste

For the stuffing:

1 cup of small/medium tomato quarters

1- Pre-heat your oven at 375.  Mix all the ingredients for the rub. Reserve.

2- Clean and dry (with absorbent paper) your whole chicken, inside and out.  Put your chicken in a roasting pan with a cover and start separating the skin from the breasts and tights gently by passing your fingers between the skin.

3- Spread out the “rub” mixture all over the chicken, below the skin and on top of it.  Stuff the inside of the chicken with the 1 cup of tomato quarters.

4- In another bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients to make the juice.  Add the tomato half moons and the juice around the chicken.  Cover it and cook it in your pre-heated oven for the next 45 minutes.

 5- Once the first 45 minutes of cooking is done, remove the cover and leave the chicken in the oven uncovered for an extra 20 minutes.

6- Turn up the heat to 425 degrees and end your cooking with an extra 15 minutes.

7- Once the last 15 minutes is done, take your chicken out of the oven and leave it to rest on the stove for 15 minutes before cutting it.  If you cut it too quickly, a lot of the juices will be coming out of the chicken and dry up the meat a bit.  One secret for a juicy and tender chicken is the resting time at the end.  Be patient, it will be worth it 😉