I made this one up from scratch at the weekend by putting a few different Mediterranean-ish ideas together. And it worked – very well. Here it is with a few minor adjustments.

You will need …

• 1 Chicken (I had a 1½kg corn-fed whole bird)
• 1 tin Borlotti Beans (drained), or an equivalent quantity of pre-cooked beans
• 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
• Zest & juice of a Lemon
• Cloves of garlic (as many as you like), finely chopped
• 10 Olives (stoned and halved)
• 4 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 glass White Wine
• Freshly ground black pepper

This is what you do …

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
2. Spatchcock the chicken: with sharp, heavy scissors cut down each side of the spine and remove it; open out the bird, lay it inside down and press on it to flatten it. (Do not discard the spine – see below.)
3. Mix together everything except the chicken, the wine, and half the oil. Season well with black pepper.
4. Spread this mix evenly over the base of a roasting dish just large enough to take the flattened bird (a tight fit is good), and add the wine.
5. Lay the chicken, skin side up, on the bean mix. Drizzle over the reserved oil, more black pepper, and optionally some more lemon juice.
6. Cover with foil and roast in the oven for 1-1½ hours (depending on the size of the bird) until the juices run clear. If it looks to be getting too dry add another half glass of wine. Remove the foil for the last 20 minutes or so to colour up the bird.
7. Serve chicken and beans with jacket or roast potatoes and veg of your choice.

Notes

1. Spatchcocked chicken tends to cook a little faster than a whole bird, so watch the timing.
2. This should work equally well with chicken portions, thighs, breast fillets, or spatchcocked poussins.
3. If you feel one tin of beans is a bit thin (it was an OK amount as a side dish for two of us, with a bit left over), double up the bean mix and use some of it to spread on top of the chicken, in place of the optional lemon juice.
4. Tuck the chicken spine in the side of the roaster, or use it to make chicken stock.
5. Don’t have Borlotti Beans? Cannellini Beans or Butter Beans would be fine; in fact I debated whether to use Butter Beans.
6. For the veg you really want something which isn’t going to fight the chicken & beans for flavour; so maybe not sprouts or kale. We had steamed cauliflower and baby rainbow carrots. Fennel should also work well; or a mix of Mediterranean roast veg; or a simple salad.
7. Serve with a light, fragrant white wine.
8. Any leftovers will make a salad, risotto or soup, depending on how much was left!