Roast chicken day: grandma’s (and great-grandmother’s) recipe

A comfort food, one of those home dishes that everyone likes, which always brings adults and children together, the roast chicken it is a great classic of the kitchen as well as the absolute way in which we Italians prefer to eat chicken: it is in the lead with the 69% of preferences, followed by the cutlet (55%). This was revealed by an investigation Doxa commissionata da Unaitalia – the Association that represents almost all of the national production of white meat – which, to celebrate it, on 2 October celebrates Roast Chicken Day.

A national day, like the one dedicated to many other favorite dishes, such as pasta or pizza, is an opportunity to taste our favorite recipe again with the chicken but also to learn to choose it carefully, if we don’t already do it: preferring chickens that do not live in the confined spaces of intensive farming, but outdoors, raised without the use of antibiotics, and certified “organic”. In short, chickens grown with respect for the animal and also with respect for the consumer.

To celebrate the day Unaitalia offers many ideas with recipes that great chefs and influencers will propose during the social marathon that will go on on www.facebook.com/vivailpollo and on their profiles following the theme “What team are you on? #pettocoscia? “: a challenge to discover these two cuts, which can be enhanced in many different and always exquisite ways.

Some famous chefs, from Roy Salomon Caceres a Rosanna Marziale (you will find them here) but also Grandmother Giovanna (the 90-year-old “granfluencer” of TikTok) with her nephew Nicola, and Emanuele Ferrari (for everyone on social media, where she is a huge success for her parodies, «Emilife») that will prepare roast chicken with his centennial great-grandmother. Here are the two recipes – very traditional – not to be missed:

GRANDMA GIOVANNA ROAST CHICKEN

Ingrediants: chicken 700 g / 1 kg, extra virgin olive oil to taste, 3 – 4 cloves of garlic, 5 – 6 sage leaves, salt and pepper to taste
rosemary 2 sprigs, a glass of white wine.
Preparation: preheat the oven to 180/200 °, put the chicken on a tray, cover it with salt and pepper and then massage it well on all sides. Insert the sage leaves under the wings, the thighs, and inside the chicken also insert 2 sprigs of rosemary; put the chicken in a pan, add extra virgin olive oil and 3 – 4 cloves of garlic. Then insert the pan containing the chicken in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes at 200 °, turning it from time to time with a fork to ensure that it cooks evenly on both sides. After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 180 ° and proceed until the end of cooking, about an hour, continuing to turn it every now and then. About 10 minutes before the chicken is cooked, add a glass of white wine. Once the desired cooking is achieved, turn off the oven, wait a few minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and place it in a baking dish. Finally, serve it by adding a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and add roasted potatoes at your discretion.

ROAST CHICKEN BIS – RECIPE BY EMANUELE FERRARI AND GRANDMA (100 YEARS IN JUNE)

Ingrediants: 1 whole chicken, coarse aale to taste, apezie from the garden (rosemary, sage and oregano to taste), 2 cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, 20g of honey, 1 pinch of paprika.
Preparation: in a blender chop coarse salt with aromatic herbs and 2 cloves of garlic and put the mince in a small bowl. Once the chicken has been placed in a baking dish, massage it well with the extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle it with spices, even inside. Bake at 180 degrees for 60/80 min. While it is in the oven, prepare the “special bisque sauce” in a bowl by mixing about 20g of honey and a little paprika. Ten minutes before removing the chicken from the oven, sprinkle it with the previously prepared sauce and then finish cooking.