Labneh and Sage Roast Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes – Best Roast Chicken Ever!

I love a good roast chicken: not only do you get a tasty, affordable dinner from one bird, but you can make at least one more meal from the leftovers, plus nutritious stock to freeze for later use.

This is our favourite roast chicken recipe. So much so that I haven’t used any other recipe for roasting a bird since I discovered it a couple of years ago. It’s off-the-charts tasty, giving succulent meat and crispy skin that is addictively tasty; and it makes incredible stock with real depth of flavour.

It comes from Casa Moro, the second cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark of Moro on Exmouth Market near the Angel, in London. I’ve only been there once, many years ago when I worked in Clerkenwell and conveniently had to walk through Exmouth Market on my way home. The restaurant was inspired by a late-90s trip around Spain, Morocco and the Sahara in a camper van, which kind of makes me want to be Sam and Sam Clark.

A word about chickens. A few years ago I decided the welfare of the chickens I, and now my family, eat is more important than the cost: if it’s not free-range and preferably organic, I’m not buying it. The same goes for fish (always MSC-certified) and meat (free-range and higher welfare).

When I started out this way I found supermarket shopping incredibly stressful, particularly for fish. If a particular supermarket says something is responsibly sourced, are they telling the truth? I’ve come to the conclusion that avoiding clear labelling is deceitful in itself, so I don’t buy it unless it’s got the MSC label. Which meant saying goodbye to my beloved mackerel a couple of years ago after we took Hugh, Jamie and co’s advice to eat this sustainable fish so seriously that they’re now endangered. But, hey, there’s always herring.

It’s simpler for me now to buy my meat at the farmer’s market on Brixton Station Road, which has some really good deals for affordable meat. Clear, honest labelling for chickens and eggs is now commonplace, so that’s less of a worry, and it can be cheap from the supermarket (Lidl has good free-range chicken), although I’ve grabbed the occasional bargain from the market. Fish and seafood is trickier and it’s often easier to buy frozen and tinned if you want MSC-certified and affordable. But I wouldn’t turn your nose up; bags of frozen fish fillets are handy to have at your fingertips, and the rectangular fillets of coley that look completely wrong are actually perfect for making fish fingers. And the scallops I used for my Brixton Galettes came from a frozen bag from Marks and Spencer. They’re not cheap at between £7 and £8 a bag, but there’s plenty in there and they’ll last you for several meals if you’re careful with the portions. Tinned oily fish makes a quick and delicious lunch with wholemeal sourdough and fresh tomatoes.

Buying this way means that we eat a lot of vegetarian food and keep pricier cuts for special occasions. It also means that I make everything I can from one ingredient. Once the meat is stripped from the chicken carcass it goes in a big pot with half an onion, some celery sticks, a couple of carrots and some herbs, covered with water and then boiled down to a delicious stock. All the good things that go into this recipe are concentrated into a healthy, golden stock that is then frozen in ice cube trays to be popped into soups, risottos and stews over the coming weeks and months. I frequently added a stock cube to Sidney’s meals when he started on solids. It’s a really easy way to make sure babies are getting what they need nutritionally.

But back to the chicken. I make my labneh from homemade yogurt. We make yogurt every week so it’s not a big deal to strain some for labneh. However, you can buy it, make it with runny bought yogurt (see here for how to do it) or you could use thick Greek yogurt instead for this recipe.

The Clark’s recommend serving it with braised spinach and bulgur wheat or wild rice, which is perfectly good, but I find the smokiness of the chicken with sweet roasted tomatoes an incredible combination that takes this roast to another level.

Here’s how to make it.

Labneh and Sage Roast Chicken with Herbed Roast Tomatoes

Serves 4

1 medium chicken, preferably organic and free-range

1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt

250g labneh

3 tbsp finely chopped sage leaves

1 tsp sweet paprika

3 tbsp olive oil

100ml water

a squeeze of lemon

sea salt and black pepper

For the roasted tomatoes

4 big ripe tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp finely chopped Mediterranean herbs such as oregano, thyme and sage, or 4 tsp dried mixed herbs

olive oil

To serve

boiled rice (long-grain, brown, wild, or a mixture), or bulgur wheat

braised greens

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7 and lightly oil 2 roasting tins. Put your chicken on a large plate or chopping board (not the one you use for the veg) with the neck end facing away from you.

In a small dish, mix up the salty garlic, labneh, 2 tablespoons of the sage and the sweet paprika, plus a little salt and pepper.

Now you’re going to get a bit messy. Give your hands a good wash and roll up your sleeves. It’s a good idea to wear an apron for this bit.

Starting from the tail end of the bird, gently lift the skin away from the flesh and ease your hands inside so that you’re separating the skin from the chicken breasts and thighs, without tearing it. You’re creating a pocket into which you’re going to stuff your labneh mixture.

Use your hands or a spoon to scoop up the stuffing mixture and push it underneath the skin, as far as it will go. Use your hands on top of the skin to gently massage the mixture around the bird so that the breasts and thighs are well stuffed. Seal the opening of the skin with some toothpicks. Now rub the outside of the skin with 2 tablespoons of the oil and the rest of the sage. You can add more seasoning if you prefer.

Transfer the stuffed chicken to the roasting tin and roast for 1–1½ hours. Test it after 1 hour by inserting a skewer into the fattest part of the leg. If the chicken is cooked the juices will be clear, if not, return it to the oven. My chicken is always cooked after 1 hour so make sure you check it. Don’t worry if the skin looks dark and burnt – this is a good thing – but you don’t want to dry out the meat by overcooking it.

Once the chicken is cooked you’re going to let it rest for a few minutes so that it’s easier to carve. Now’s the time to make a gravy from the juices in the pan. Tip up the cooked chicken so that all the juices from the cavity pour back into the pan, then transfer the bird to a clean board or plate, cover it loosely with foil and let it sit for 10 minutes. Skim off most of the fat from the roasting tray and add the water and a squeeze of lemon juice. Lay the tray over a medium heat on the hob and bring to a simmer, then scrape all the tasty caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan using a wooden spoon. Pour into a jug and keep warm.

To make the tomatoes, slice them in half and sprinkle with the chopped garlic and herbs. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the hot oven for 35 minutes or so (so put them in when your chicken’s been in for about 45 minutes).

Serve the chicken with the skin, alongside the juicy roasted tomatoes, rice or bulgur wheat and braised veg. Pour over a little gravy and rejoice at the wonder of the meal you’ve just created.

Casa Moro is published by Ebury Press and can be purchased here.

Moro restaurant tweets @RestaurantMoro and you can find all the details here.

Strained Yogurt and Labneh

We’ve been making our own yogurt for a while now, and while most of the time we eat it as it comes, there’s plenty more you can do to make it something a little bit different.

A few years ago, in our pre-Sidney days, we travelled to Jordan and Israel. It was an incredible holiday and we saw so many extraordinary places. One of the things we remember most fondly is the food, particularly the hummus, falafel and labneh that we treated ourselves to daily.

I’m a big fan of eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern breakfasts; give me a plate of labneh or goats’ cheese, salty olives, a boiled egg and a flatbread and I’m a happy lady. In Jordan, in particular, the labneh was creamy, smooth, and there they sprinkle it with za’atar – a genius spice mix with wild thyme, marjoram, oregano, sesame seeds, salt, and sometimes sumac, that they also serve in little paper wraps with loaves of soft bread in Jerusalem – and drizzle it with olive oil to make the perfect dip for flatbread.

You can buy labneh here from specialist shops, but it’s actually very easy to make with runny yogurt (even better if it’s homemade). You simply season the yogurt with a little salt – start with ¼–½ teaspoon for 500g yogurt and adjust up or down to your taste the next time around – and then strain it through a cloth for several hours to drain away the whey (I use one of Sidney's old muslins). You’re left with a thick yogurt that looks just like cream cheese – a light straining will give you a smooth yogurt perfect for dipping, a longer strain results in a firmer yogurt that can be spread on bread or rolled into balls and stored in oil to use later in salads, tagines or just slathered on toast. It’s exactly the same principle for Greek yogurt, but you don’t need to strain it for quite as long, or salt it.

For labneh balls, you can season your oil with all sorts of delicious things. Traditionally it’s just plain olive oil, which gives you the option of adding flavourings later, depending on what you're making. This is quite handy for fussy young eaters because they won’t be put off by anything unusual. You can, of course, leave out the salt if you prefer.

For flavourings try bay leaves, peppercorns and herbs such as oregano or rosemary. You can add a couple of peeled garlic cloves and lemon slices or chopped chilli. To this pot I added lemon balm and rosemary from the garden, with a few peppercorns and flakes of dried oregano. As the balls are quite delicate it helps to pour in the oil gradually, covering each layer before adding the next. Simply leave the jar in the fridge for a couple of days to let the flavours take hold, then spoon out your labneh balls whenever you need them.

Another option is to serve them as canapés. Roll them in sesame seeds, crushed pink peppercorns or chopped herbs and they won’t make too much of a mess. You can also flavour them with harissa for a spicier version, or honey for something sweet. Replace the salt with a little sugar and/or fruit purée and you can make sweet versions that can be rolled in chopped nuts or grated dark chocolate.

And don’t forget to use the whey strained from the yogurt. You’ll be amazed how much you’re left with and it’s magical, protein-rich stuff. I use it to replace the water for pancakes or bread; it makes them lighter and fluffier and that much better for you. Or I add it to stocks and soups, or to Sidney’s meals if they need a little thinning out, for the added flavour and protein. Remember there’s salt in the whey if you’ve made labneh. You can also freeze it.

Smooth Labneh will keep in the fridge for up to a couple of weeks. Here I've seasoned ours with za'atar and drizzled it with olive oil. Labneh balls in properly sterilised jars should last at least 6 months and up to a year. It might seem like too much effort to make yogurt or labneh into balls, but it really is worth it. It doesn't take much time and you'll have a pot of delicious soft cheese to dip into whenever you need an additional creamy element for a pasta dish, something simple to spread on pancakes, or a cooling counter to a hot curry.