Leaves from 2 sprigs fresh oregano, finely chopped
1Tbsp.
olive oil
1 medium chicken, about 1.6 kg (3½lb)
1
lemon, halved
300g
(11oz) cherry tomatoes
150g
(5oz) couscous
Large handful watercress
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 190°C (170 °C fan) mark 5. In a small bowl, stir together half each of the feta, olives, oregano and olive oil with plenty of black pepper. Set aside.
Step 2
Lift up the neck flap of the chicken and use your fingers to ease the skin gently away from the breast meat - work all the way down the sides of the breasts and towards the legs. Push the feta mixture between the skin and meat to cover the whole breast area. Pull the neck flap down and secure with a skewer or cocktail sticks. Put a lemon half in the cavity of the chicken.
Step 3
Put the chicken into a medium-large roasting tin and drizzle over the remaining oil. Season and roast for 1hr 15min. Add tomatoes to the tin, shake to coat in oil and return to oven for a further 15min or until the chicken is cooked through and tomatoes have burst.
Step 4
Carefully transfer the chicken to a board and put tomatoes into a small serving bowl. Cover both with foil. Spoon off as much fat as possible from the roasting tin, leaving behind the darker juices. Add the couscous to the roasting tin and stir to coat. Squeeze in the juice from the remaining lemon half, then pour in just enough boiling water to cover the couscous. Cover tin well with clingfilm and leave to cook for 10min.
Step 5
Fluff up the couscous with a fork and stir through the watercress and the remaining feta, olives and oregano. Check the seasoning.
Step 6
Allow the chicken to rest for at least 25min before serving with the couscous and tomatoes.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
