The spiced chook : Roast chicken with chorizo and butternut squash

Serves 4

For the seeds

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 350g chorizo
• 4 red onions
• 1 head garlic
• 10 sprigs thyme
• 5 sprigs rosemary
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 15g whole chicken
• 1 bunch parsley
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 0 Rapeseed oil
• 0 Salt
• 1 digital temperature probe
• 0g beef rump
• 0 Beef dripping
• 0 Fine sea salt

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.

Step 2
Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds.

Step 3
Set aside for later.

Step 4
Cut the squash into 25mm slices and place on a roasting tray.

Step 5
Add the remaining ingredients, except the chicken and parsley, to the tray.

Step 6
Shuffle them around with your hands, so that everything gets evenly coated in the herbs, spices and oil.

Step 7
Lightly oil and salt the skin of the chicken.

Step 8
Lay it on the vegetables, breast-side down.

Step 9
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, then flip the chicken over so it is breast-side up and roast for a further 55 minutes, or until the chicken in cooked through.

Step 10
Stir the vegetables every so often, so they cook evenly.

Step 11
Meanwhile, separate the butternut squash seeds from any pith.

Step 12
Drizzle the seeds with a little oil and salt, mix well, then roast on a tray in the oven for 15 minutes.

Step 13
Set aside to cool.

Step 14
Put the chicken on a plate to rest.

Step 15
Chop up the parsley and mix it into the vegetables and chorizo, reserving a handful of herbs to garnish the dish.

Step 16
Transfer to a serving bowl.

Step 17
Carve the chicken, arrange the pieces on top of the vegetables.

Step 18
Pour over any pan juices over the top of the meat and sprinkle with roasted seeds and parsley.

Step 19
In this recipe, the oven is set super-low so the meat is cooked incredibly gently for 8 hours, yielding an extremely soft, falling-apart flesh that you could carve with a spoon.

Step 20
Serve 8-10.

Step 21
Set your oven to the lowest setting.

Step 22
You are aiming for the internal temperature of the oven to run at around 50C/122F.

Step 23
(Most domestic ovens can be set no lower than 60C/140F, so if this is the case, you will need to prop the oven door open a tiny bit).

Step 24
If your oven doesn’t have an accurate thermometer built in, then you can check the temperature by putting a jam jar filled with water at the back of the oven, and use your temperature probe to to check the temperature of the water.

Step 25
Put the beef on a rack over a large roasting tray, and put it in the oven.

Step 26
Close or prop the door ajar, and go to bed.

Step 27
When you get up, check the internal temperature of the beef with a thermometer.

Step 28
You want the meat to reach 50C/122F.

Step 29
Leave the beef wrapped in tin foil in a warm spot until you are ready to serve.

Step 30
Just before serving, heat some beef dripping in a very hot frying pan or roasting dish, season the meat all over with sea salt, then sear the outside of the rump all over.

Step 31
Slice it as thinly as you can, and serve with hot gravy and plenty of horseradish sauce and some crispy roast potatoes.