Easter Sunday + Salsa verde and roasted chicken

I am not aware of any special dinner or lunch meal for Easter, besides that we always do an Easter brunch...We eat a lot of eggs, prepared differently, but besides of this I have no clue what would be a typical Easter lunch or dinner meal for Easter with the family.
So being quite open to everything I decided to do a roasted chicken and early potatoes with salsa verde. Seemed to fit somehow to Easter and we certainly do love roasted chicken. Salsa verde was something I wanted to try out, since I saw the "30 minutes meal with Jamie Oliver" the other day, where he priced the salsa for being the most incredible salsa you can use for anything....He did not exaggerate, this salsa is incredible, so incredible that we now have another favorite potato dish in our house, we...who are not really a potatoes lovers as you remember....

Last summer I got some coriander seeds from our friends, whose parents have a herb garden in their summer house. I am not a gardener at all, really, I always dream about a herb garden which I start every year, but I always end up seeing the herbs die. I do use a lot of herbs in my cooking, so having a "green thumb" would be handy, but obviously you cannot be good in everything. I took the seeds with no hope or expectation and just through them into a pot...the result couple of month later was just incredible. By now I have the biggest coriander pot ever, big enough to make salsa verde and being admired by my friends when they see it...

Salsa verde:

• big bunch of coriander
• small bunch of mint
• 1 garlic glove
• 1-2 anchovies + some of the oil
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Put everything in a food processor and blitz till everything is combine to a smooth paste...Add more olive oil to get the right constancy. Season with salt and pepper. 

Try this salsa with early potatoes. Cook the potatoes (Tip from Jamie Oliver..early potatoes should be always put in a boil salt water, this way you will keep the structure and prevent them from falling apart). Cook for 15-20 minutes, if the fork is going through easily the potatoes are done. Take the potatoes and mix them with couple of tablespoons of salsa verde and some coarse see salt.

I served the roasted chicken with homemade baguette, mixed leave salad with honey-balsamico dressing and early potatoes with salsa verde. My boys just loved it and we all agreed that this dinner was a perfect end to a nice Easter Sunday and might be our family Easter dinner for the future...

Homemade baguette:

• 125 ml warm water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 pack dry east
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 400 g bread flour
• olive oil

Put warm water, sugar and east in a bowl and give it a stir. Put it aside for 10 minutes, till foam starts to build and you can smell the east. Add flour, salt and a good splash of olive oil. Mix well for at least 5 minutes in a kitchen machine or 10 min by hands. Put it back into the bowl and let it raise for 1 hour or till double in a warm place. Knead the dough couple of times and share it 4 equal parts. Roll each part in a baguette shape and put it on a baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it raise for another 15-30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the baguettes for 20-25 minutes, till golden brown. You shall hear a hollow sound when you tip on the baguette. Let is cool completely....

Roasted lemon chicken:

• whole chicken
• 1-2 lemons
• lemon+garlic butter (homemade)
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 C (grill function if you have). Wash the chicken and dry it with a paper towel. Cut the lemons in big chunks and fill it in the chicken. Take some of the lemon+garlic butter and push it under the skin of the chicken. Rub the chicken from both side with salt, pepper and olive oil. Put it on a roasting dish into the oven. The roasting time depends on the size of your chicken, the usual rule is 1 hour per kilo. Turn the chicken couple of time during the preparation, to ensure a crispy skin from both sides. Let the chicken rest for at least 20 minutes on a serving plate covered with tin foil, before serving (Tip: put the chicken breast down, so all the juices are collected in the breast, otherwise you will end up with a dry chicken breast)

Lemon+garlic butter: put butter, lemon zest, garlic and salt into a food processor, blitz till everything is well combined. You can freeze the rest of the butter and use it any time for anything you want.

Enjoy!