Roast Chicken and Leftovers Recipes - Inspired by Knorr

As I previously posted here, I was sent a large hamper of seasonal produce and organic meats by Knorr.  There was a sneak peak at a delicious chicken recipe that will be on the Knorr website very soon.  I must confess that I didn't try it as I was not keen to spatchcock a chicken on a fairly busy weeknight when I was knackered and dealing with hungry, tired and bordering on completely nreasonable children.  Therefore I decided to have roast chicken and roast vegetables so the oven could do most of the work and all I had to do was prepare the chicken and vegetables whilst trying to deal with spend time nurturing my increasingly feral delightful children.

I used the tip that Marco had given us and mixed a couple of Knorr chicken stock cubes with some olive oil and smothered this all over the chicken.  I cut a lemon in to quarters and put 2 of the quarters in to the cavity of the chicken with a sprig of fresh thyme and one unpeeled bashed garlic clove.

I roasted the chicken in one roasting dish and the chopped potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and onions in another.  The the result was a delicous moist roast chicken with lovely crispy, flavoursome skin and some very tasty roast vegetables.  All that was left to do was steam some greens and dinner was done. 

Once again thanks to Knorr for a fabulous hamper of seasonal produce and organic meat.  It was a real treat.

We had a decent amout of leftover roast chicken so the next day I used some of the leftovers for chicken and salad wraps to put in lunches and the rest to make the risotto for dinner that night.

Leftover Roast Chicken and Vegetable Risotto

This is one of my favourite recipes for using up leftover roast chicken.  The vegetables are grated which means they cook quickly and kids can help grate them, mind little fingers aren't grated along with the vegetables though. 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1 large courgette, grated

1 large (150g) sweet potato, diced

1 1/4 cups arborio rice

2 cups salt-reduced chicken stock

leftover shredded roast chicken meat (skin and bones removed, obviously)

handful of frozen peas

grated parmasean, to serve

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Heat half the oil in a heavy-based, flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the thinly sliced onion, crushed garlic, grated carrot and courgette and diced sweet potato.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.

Once the vegetables have softened add the rice and stir well.  Cook it for a couple of minutes then add the stock and 1 cup of cold water. Give it a good stir to combine everything. Bring the pot to the boil then cover with foil or a lid.  Transfer to the preheated oven.  Bake for  around 15 minutes or until all the liquid has almost been absorbed. Remove from oven. 

Stir through the shredded leftover chicken and frozen peas.  Bake once again, covered, for 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove from the oven and leave to stand covered with the lid/foil for 5 minutes.  Uncover and serve topped with a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan.