How to incorporate best olive oil – Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil – into your Sicilian Lemon Roasted Chicken
Updated September 14th 2023
This succulent Sicilian style chicken recipe uses extra virgin olive oil along with a selection of fresh ingredients to create a tasty chicken dish which goes well with roasted potatoes.
Why More And More People Are Turning To Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil has become a staple in many households, and for good reason. As the best olive oil on the market, extra virgin olive oil offers numerous benefits that contribute towards a healthy lifestyle. With high levels of polyphenols, extra virgin olive oil has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which can reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Its monounsaturated fats also make it a healthy alternative to other cooking oils, contributing to improved cholesterol levels. Incorporating extra virgin olive oil into your diet can not only enhance the flavor of your meals but also promote a healthier way of living.
How To Make A Roast Healthy Using Extra Virgin Olive Oil
A Sunday Roast is epic, but, if you can make some lighter swaps, without sacrificing on taste, and still have the energy to get off your chair at the end of it, then that is a win!
A roast dinner is like anything, you can make it as healthy as you like. Pick a lean meat like chicken and roast it with some extra virgin olive oil. This will help to bring out the flavour of the chicken also to keep it moist. You could also remove the skin and just eat the breast meat to keep it lower in calories. Add lemon to the middle of the bird for extra flavour without a lot of extra calories.
Cook the potatoes in their skins to absorb less fat and keep all their nutrients. Even better, use sweet potatoes or butternut squash to make the roast potatoes.
Pile your plate high with green veg like cabbage, sprouts and broccoli. Go easy on the gravy and sauces and make sure they are homemade so you can limit the salt. Plate up in the kitchen, rather than having everything on the table. That will mean you don’t go back for seconds.
Sicilian Chicken Recipe with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- ¼ to ½ cup Morocco Gold
- 4 Tbsp. mixed spices
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic
- 3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 Tsp. black pepper blend
- Seasons Fleur de Sel (French sea salt), to taste
- 2-3 celery stalks, cut in half
- 2-3 carrots, cut in half
- 1 large onion, roughly quartered
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, bay leaf), optional
- Fresh Parsley, chopped
- 3 pounds small red or white potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475°F.
- To prepare the spice rub, combine 3 Tbsp. spice blend, black pepper, minced garlic and 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Set aside for a few minutes while you attend to the chicken.
- Remove the giblets and any extra skin and fat from the chicken. Thoroughly wash the chicken and squeeze the juice of the lemon all over the chicken (save the lemon rind). Set the chicken aside while you prepare the vegetables to allow the lemon to infuse the chicken.
- Pile the celery, carrots, most of the onion quarters (save one quarter for the chicken cavity) and a few garlic cloves in the center of a roasting pan (we like to use a large cast iron for this), season with some salt and pepper and drizzle the vegetable mix with some extra virgin olive oil.
- Pat dry the chicken with paper towels. Using your fingertips carefully work your way under the skin of the chicken to separate the skin from the breast to develop a pocket. Spread the spice rub under the skin of the chicken. Make sure to distribute the rub evenly throughout (including the back and the cavity). Fill the chicken cavity with the saved lemon rind, fresh herbs (if using), onion quarters and a few garlic cloves. Drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil and massage the skin (this will really help to get a nice brown crispy skin). Sprinkle with more salt.
- Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan.
- In a large bowl, add the potatoes with salt, black pepper, 1 Tbsp. spice blend and some extra virgin olive oil; toss well to combine then scatter them around the chicken.
- Transfer the pan in the preheated oven and turn the heat down immediately to 400°F. Roast the chicken for 30 minutes, then rotate the pan, toss the potatoes and turn down the heat to 350°F. Cook for 1 hour longer, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the inner thigh registers 165°F to 175°F and juices run clear.
- Transfer the roasted chicken to a cutting board, remove the aromatics from the cavity and tent with foil for about 20 minutes. Remove the potatoes to a serving bowl, toss with chopped parsley and balsamic. Cover to keep warm.
- Carve the Sicilian roasted chicken and serve with roasted potatoes and pan juices.
About Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For health conscious, discerning food lovers across all cultures and culinary backgrounds, Morocco Gold is a natural, unfiltered, ultra premium, polyphenol rich extra virgin olive oil, whose exquisite taste and health enhancing qualities are guaranteed by our rigorous testing, provenance and authenticity, and strict adherence to single estate sourcing, with no blending or mixing.
What is extra virgin olive oil good for: extra virgin olive oil uses
Incredibly versatile, Morocco Gold is one of the best extra virgin olive oils for cooking and salad dressing. High in polyphenols, Morocco Gold shows why extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest fat on earth. (It can also be used as an extra virgin olive oil for hair and as an extra virgin olive oil for skin).
Our gold award winning extra virgin olive oil represents the very best extra virgin olive oil.
The oil is produced from olives grown in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, where the unique micro-climate and geology provides ideal conditions for olive growing. Morocco Gold combines centuries of local cultivation and harvesting knowledge, with our rigorous traceability and quality assurance procedures to bring what is locally considered a ‘noble food’ to international markets.
The oil is produced from the Picholine Marocaine olive. Our olives are hand-picked early in the harvesting season when the fruit is young and first cold pressed within 24 hours of picking. There is no mixing or blending with other oils to ensure genuine extra virgin quality. As a result this gives Morocco Gold it’s distinctive green fruitiness, hints of sweet almonds, fresh turf and a hint of herbs. It has the distinctive ‘pepperiness’ (not too aggressive) of a fine extra virgin olive oil which as a consequence gives Morocco Gold a clean, well balanced finish.
You may also like our Mediterranean Chicken recipe.
