Urfa Roast Chicken With Peach & Courgette Salad

Grab the chicken and pat dry. Using scissors, remove the backbone by snipping either side from the legs to the breast. Open the chicken up a little, then using a heavy knife, cut through the back of the breast bone to split the chicken into two halves, see the video for visual cues.

Mix the sugar with double the amount of salt and the urfa and sprinkle all over the chicken with a good glug of oil, pop into the fridge for an hour. When almost ready to cook, pull your chicken out of the fridge to come up to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 225°C. Leaving the skin on, cut the shallots in half lengthways and chuck into a roasting tin with the drained chickpeas, one whole peach, the whole scotch bonnet, unpeeled garlic cloves and the rosemary. Nestle the chicken on top, skin-side up.

Slide into the oven for 35 mins, or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. Pull out the chicken and let it rest for 15 mins. Add the chickpeas to a large bowl, scooping out the roasted veggies.

Peel the burnt skin from the shallots and separate into petals. Chuck the roasted peach into a bowl with the roasted scotch bonnet. Peel the garlic cloves and get those in there too.

Scoop the pit out of the peach and then, using a fork, mash the scotch bonnet and peach together with a good splash of sherry vinegar. Add any roasting juices from the pan, and a good glug of oil. Season with salt and pepper and have a taste. It should be sweet, tart and spicy. Tip into the bowl with the chickpeas.

Add the roasted shallots, thinly slice the remaining peach and the courgettes and add to the bowl along with the chickpeas. Tear in the basil and have a taste, season if you need to.

Cut the chicken into chunky portions and serve over the chickpea salad, pouring over any resting juices. Get stuck in.