Spanish Pot-Roast Chicken

I have always been a huge fan of Spanish cuisine. The simplicity of their food is truly amazing - lots of vegetables, lots of olive oil, a fair amount of paprika and usually a tomato based sauce. This recipe is, therefore, the epitome of Spanish cuisine. It's basically a chicken roast dinner with a Spanish twist.

It's super easy to make - everything just gets chucked in a roasting tray and popped in the oven! - and it can be served in the middle of the table for everyone to dig into, which is my absolute favourite style of dining. The recipe can be changed to suit all tastes and almost any combination of herbs, spices and vegetables will work to form a completely different dish.

I was at home this weekend and my Grandma served this as an alternative to Sunday dinner and I have to say it went down a storm. It was so flavourful and the vegetable had become soft and almost sweet in the cooking liquor. The chicken itself was moist and subtly spiced with paprika. You simply HAVE to give this a go!

Spanish Pot-Roast Chicken

Serves 6-8

1 tbsp olive oil

3kg chicken

1 tbsp sweet paprika

Salt and pepper

For the bed of vegetables:

3 onions, peeled and cut into quarters

3 carrots, cut into quarters

3 large tomatoes, cut into quarters

2 red chillies, cut into quarters

2 garlic head, cut in half horizontally

3 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks

2 bay leaves

2 thyme sprigs

2tbsp balsamic vinegar

400ml white wine

300g black olives (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Put all the ingredients for the bed of vegetables in a large lidded casserole dish and mix well.

Rub the olive oil all over the chicken. Sprinkle with the paprika, salt and pepper and rub these in too.

Place the bird (tie the legs if necessary) in the casserole dish on top of the vegetables and cover with a tightly fitting lid. Place in the oven for one and a half hours, then remove the lid and cook for a further 20 minutes to crisp up the skin.

Serve simply with rice, pasta or crusty bread and enjoy!