Anchovy-Butter Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Olives

Ingredients

• 1 x 1.8kg whole chicken
• 800 g waxy potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks
• salt and black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 15g fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 80 g butter, softened
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 8 anchovy fillets in oil
• 100 g black olives, pitted
• Dressed rocket salad with shaved parmesan, to serve
• 1 lemon null, zested
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C. Pat the chicken dry all over with kitchen paper — water on the skin means steam, and steam means no crackle. Leave it on the board to come towards room temperature while you make the butter.
2. Mash the anchovy fillets into the softened butter with the crushed garlic, chopped rosemary and lemon zest until you have a glossy, fragrant paste flecked green and bronze. The anchovies will dissolve into the butter — they're seasoning, not topping.
3. Slide your fingers gently between the skin and the breast meat, working carefully from the cavity end so the skin doesn't tear. Push two-thirds of the butter under the skin, smoothing it evenly across the breast and down towards the thighs. Rub the rest over the outside, into every crease.
4. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, paying attention to the back and the legs — anchovy brings savoury depth but not enough salt on its own. The bird should look properly seasoned before it goes near the oven.
5. Tip the potato chunks into a large roasting tin, toss with the olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper, then pour in the white wine. The wine does two jobs here: it stops the potatoes scorching and it lifts the anchovy butter into the pan juices as the bird cooks. Spread the potatoes into a single layer so they roast rather than steam.
6. Sit the chicken breast-side up on top of the potatoes. Roast for 60 minutes, by which point the skin should be turning deep mahogany gold and the kitchen will smell unmistakably of garlic and rosemary. Don't be tempted to open the door early — you want that skin to set.
7. Scatter the olives around the bird and return to the oven for another 15–20 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear from the thickest part of the thigh and a probe in the same spot reads 74°C. The potatoes should be golden and catching at the edges where they've kissed the tin.
8. Lift the chicken onto a board and rest for 10 minutes, loosely tented with foil — non-negotiable if you want juicy meat, because the fibres need time to relax and reabsorb their juices. Stir the potatoes through the buttery, winey pan juices while you wait, scraping up any sticky brown bits from the base of the tin — that's pure flavour.
9. Taste the potatoes and pan juices now. Adjust for salt — the olives bring their own brine, so taste before you reach for the cellar. Add a squeeze of lemon over the potatoes to cut through the butter and wake everything up.
10. Carve the chicken and plate it with the potatoes and olives, spooning over every last drop of the pan juices. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, scatter the torn basil over the top, and tuck lemon wedges alongside for anyone who wants more brightness.