RECIPE INSPIRATION
Spirit yourselves back to holidays in the Mediterranean with these sunshine-filled recipes from chef Ben Tish
Meet Ben
Despite his British roots, Ben Tish, chef director at Cubitt House, is famed for his rustic, yet beautifully refined, Mediterranean cooking, heavily influenced by the cuisines of Italy, Spain and North Africa. CUBITTHOUSE.CO.UK
SERVES 4 DF
HANDS-ON TIME 45 mins
TOTAL TIME 1 hr 30 mins, plus resting
ROASTED CHICKEN, SUMMER TOMATO AND BASIL PANZANELLA
‘Panzanella is a delicious Tuscan-style bread and tomato salad – here I’ve added a roast chicken to make this the ultimate complete summer salad. The roasting juices from the chicken mix with the vinegary, basil-infused tomatoes, and I’ve added some rustic croutons cooked with the chicken for a crunchy texture. I tend to make this dish a couple of hours ahead of serving and place it in the fridge to let all the flavours meld together and get extra tasty – it also makes serving super easy. It’s perfect at room temperature, so remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.’
◆ ½ lemon
◆ 4 sprigs thyme
◆ 1 small Taste the Difference chicken, about 1.3kg
◆ 6 unpeeled garlic cloves, bashed
◆ 4 tbsp olive oil, to drizzle
◆ about 200g day-old rustic bread (such as sourdough or focaccia), torn into bite-size chunks
For the salad
◆ about 1kg mixed ripe vine tomatoes, cored
◆ 2 echalion shallots, finely sliced
◆ 1 x 30g pack basil, leaves picked
◆ ½ x 30g pack flat-leaf parsley, chopped
◆ sea salt flakes
◆ about 100ml extra-virgin olive oil
◆ about 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
◆ a handful of green olives (such as nocellera), stoned and halved
◆ a handful of miniature capers, drained
◆ 30g finely grated pecorino romano* or Parmesan* (optional)
1 Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Stuff the lemon half and thyme sprigs in the chicken’s cavity and season well, both inside the cavity and over the skin. Place the garlic in a roasting tin, sit the chicken on top and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil then roast for 45 minutes initially.
2 Toss the torn bread with another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and seasoning. When the 45 minutes are up, baste the chicken then add the torn bread to the roasting tin, stirring to mix it into the roasting juices to soak up all the flavours. Cook the chicken and croutons for another 30-40 minutes, stirring the croutons once or twice, until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear when pierced in the fattest part of the breast (scoop out the croutons earlier if they are getting too dark). Remove the chicken from the oven, cove
