Method

• 1.
  Preheat the oven to 180ºC. In a pestle and mortar, bash up the garlic and basil leaves with a pinch of salt until you have a rough paste. Muddle in a lug of olive oil and a pinch of pepper.

• 2.
  Use your sharpest knife to make three slashes on each of the chicken legs, cutting right down to the bone. Tip the paste over the chicken and use your hands to really rub the paste into all of the slashes, nooks and crannies. Pop one lemon half in the cavity of the bird.
• 3.
  Place the chicken on a roasting tray, along with the other lemon half, and cook in the hot oven for 1 hour, or until it’s crispy, golden and cooked through. To check, insert a knife into the thickest part of the thigh– the juices should run clear. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes, loosely covered in tin foil and a clean tea towel to keep it warm.
• 4.
  Portion up the chicken, shredding the meat from the legs and slicing the breast meat. Carefully squeeze the roasted lemon halves into the juices in the tray, heat them up on the stove until hot then spoon over the carved meat before serving.