Sunday Dinner: Roasted Greek Chicken with Vegetables

Being able to cook a meal for dinner throughout the week is often challenging for many.  Between work schedules, kid schedules, and everything else we're all expected to do throughout the week, a home-cooked meal is often put aside for anything that can be ready - now!  Unfortunately, Sunday dinner may be the one time throughout the week that families are able to gather together, around the same table, at the same time.  Here is a wonderful option!  Yes, your local grocery store will likely sell those rotisserie chickens, ready to eat..... but, a home-roasted chicken is SO much better!  With the right combination of vegetables added to the pan, you have a complete meal!  I hope this can become one of your family favorites!

Roasted Greek Chicken with Vegetables

You'll need a large roasting pan with the rack.  Preheat oven to 425-degrees and move oven rack to a lower level.

1. In the bottom of the roasting pan add the following vegetables cut into chunks:

• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 carrots
• 1 green pepper
• 8 oz. white button mushrooms
• 4 medium red potatoes (I leave the skins on, but you can also peel)

 Add 1 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup white wine, juice of 1 lemon.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper.
Then, wiggle the rack into the pan.

2. Prep the following vegetables by quartering them, to stuff into the chicken:  

• 1 celery stalk                                                        
• 1 carrot
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 lemon

Put these in a small bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper.  Set aside while you get the chicken.

3.  Use a 5-6 lb. whole chicken.  Place chicken in your sink and carefully remove from packaging (safety first so you don't poison yourself with raw chicken juice!).  Roll up your sleeves, open up the chicken, and remove anything inside the cavity, including any large chunks of fat.  Rinse with water.  Place chicken onto the rack in your pan.

4.  Stuff the reserved vegetables into the cavity of the chicken.

5. Liberally drizzle olive oil to coat the skin of the chicken.  Sprinkle with salt/pepper to coat.

6.  Roast at 425-degrees for 1 hour.  Baste with juices from the pan and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.  At this point, check the temperature of the chicken using a meat thermometer.  Chicken is fully cooked at 180-degrees.  You can pull it out of the oven if it's just shy of that (around 170-degrees), tent with foil and wait for temperature to increase since the meat will continue cooking once it's out of the oven.

7. Carve and serve!

Here are my tips 'n tricks:

• If the chicken is done cooking but the potatoes are not, remove the chicken onto a large cutting board and tent with foil.  Continue roasting vegetables until cooked to your liking.
• You can tie the legs together using kitchen twine, but I didn't here and it was still fine!
• You can substitute any of the vegetables - but to keep it an authentic Greek chicken, you must have the potatoes!

Pasta Bolognese

Once you try this recipe, I guarantee that it will become your go-to meat sauce for pasta!  Recipes for bolognese can be found in every recipe book and all over the internet.  I took what I liked from each of them, added my own twists and voila - here it is!  Enjoy!!

Bolognese Sauce

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and minced

2 celery stalks, minced

1 package of mushrooms (white button or cremini), sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 Tablespoons tomato paste (I love the tubes you can buy now!)

2 lbs ground beef (at least 93% lean)

1 lb mild Italian sausage (buy uncased if you can, otherwise get the links and remove the casings)

1 teaspoon red pepper flake

1/2 cup red wine

1- 16oz can diced tomato

1- 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1- 16oz can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon oregano

1 Tablespoon dried basil 

salt

black pepper

Heat a large dutch oven or sautee pan over medium-high heat with ~3 Tbsp olive oil.  When oil is hot, add onion, celery, carrot and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook another 5 minutes.  When vegetables have softened slightly, add the ground beef and sausage.  Use a wooden spoon to break up meat and cook until meat mixture is browned and fully cooked through.  Drain/spoon out any excess grease.

Once the meat is cooked through, add the tomato paste and stir to fully combine.  Add the red wine and use wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  When the wine has mostly evaporated, add in the canned tomatoes (diced, sauce, crushed), red pepper flakes, and seasonings - oregano, basil, Italian seasoning.  Also add 1 Tablespoon each salt and black pepper.  You can adjust if you need more later on.  

Reduce to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for at least 1 hour.  You will need to check back and stir every 15 minutes or so, adjusting the heat as needed.  The longer this stays on the heat, the more the flavors will come together. 

Serve on top of pasta - rigatoni, orecchiette, penne, cavatappi - something short and lined to hold onto this wonderful sauce.

Now go call your family and friends and invite them over for a great dinner!!!

Here are my tips 'n tricks:

- use fresh basil if you have it - added right before serving

- must top with fresh grated parmesan or your favorite cheese!

- feel free to adjust seasonings to those you have in your pantry - just keep with that Italian seasoning theme

- this is great as leftovers - you can make it a day ahead and reheat on the stovetop; just add a splash of chicken stock so it doesn't stick to the pan

- If you do make the bolognese ahead of time, do NOT make the pasta and combine ahead of time.  Pasta will get too mushy and overcooked.  Always keep separate and make pasta fresh as needed!