Spitroast Tarragon Chicken and Vegetables

Make sure the butter is good and soft. Tear the leaves off the tarragon and chop to give a really good handful, stir into about half the butter  Picture  .

Make a small ¾ inch/2 cm slit in the skin of the chicken at the bottom of the brest alongside the bottom of the leg on both sides. Use two fingers to loosen the skin of the breasts right up to the breast bone and similarly for the legs. Then push the soft tarragon butter underneath the skin and press the outside to distribute the butter. Put the stalks and any left over tarragon into the chicken cavity along with two lemon halves.

Paint the chicken with olive oil using a pastry brush, season well with salt and fresh black pepper and put the chicken on to a spit and use some string to make sure it is firmly attached  Picture  . Set the fire under the spit and when ready roast  Picture    Picture   for 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 45 minutes until nicely tender and moist.

Meanwhile prepare the vegetables. Pod the broad beans and simmer in boiling water for about three minutes, drain and cool under cold water. When cool, peel all the beans except the very small ones. Clean the potatoes and keep in water and top and tail the courgettes, cut in half lengthways and use a little spoon to discard the pith.

About thirty minutes to go drain and season the potatoes with salt and pepper, and cook in olive oil in a thick bottomed saucepan over a medium heat turning every now and again until nicely brown.When done dry in some kitchen paper and keep warm.Cut the courgettes into 1 cm or so slices, season and cook in a frying pan in a little olive oil until nicely cooked. When ready, add to the potatoes.

Strip the leaves off some fresh thyme and chop to deliver a couple of teaspoonfuls or so. Put the peeled broad beans with quite a lot of butter into a saucepan and warm through. When ready seaon lightly with a little salt and stir in the thyme.

When ready take the chicken off the spit  Picture  , cover with foil and let rest for five minutes or so. Then cut into slices, put on to serving plates and spoon around the vegetables and some rocket if used  Zoom  .