Roast Halloween Chicken with Beetroot and Pumpkin Mash

This is such a delicious roast chicken and it is perfect for Halloween using wonderful autumnal ingredients.  The beetroot roasted with lemon and red onions are so tasty with the chicken and it's made even more flavourful with colour pumpkin mash.  You can also do this with squash and I love to serve it with a crunchy green salad.  Mama mia! Gimme!

Gluten-free

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 whole free-range chicken (approx. 1.7kg)

3 red onions, thinly sliced

5 beetroot, cut into 6ths

20 garlic cloves, leave skins on

1 -2 lemon, quartered

Small bunch of fresh sage

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

For the pumpkin mash

1  medium culinary pumpkin (approx. 2.5kg)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

2 tsp paprika powder

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 organic chicken stock cube

Sea salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 190 degrees and line a baking tray with baking parchment.  Add a little olive oil to the tray and place the chicken in the centre.  Add the chopped beetroot and sliced red onions around the bird and smash each garlic clove with he back of the knife.  Stuff some lemon, garlic and a few sage leaves into the chicken's cavity and squeeze the remaining lemon over everything and scatter the garlic in the tray.  Season the vegetables and chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper and mix everything round the tray so it is evenly coated.  Place tray into the oven for 25 minutes and then remove and turn chicken over before placing back into the oven to roast for a further 25 minutes. Then remove tray again and move all the ingredients around the tray removing any vegetables or garlic that are cooked and place to one side covered with tin foil.  Turn chicken back over to crisp up the skin for a further 10-15 minutes until golden and then it is ready to serve.

While the chicken is roasting start on the pumpkin mash.  Place the whole pumpkin into a large pot of boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes to soften the tough outer skin.  Then remove and save water putting it to one side.   Slice the pumpkin into large pieces and either peel or cut off the skin.  Chop pumpkin into small equal chunks and place into a saucepan.  Pour over with the saved boiled water until just covered.  Mix in chicken stock cube and boil for about 15 minutes until the pieces are cooked and fluffy but still hold their shape.  Strain and place into a large bowl along with the spices, olive oil, salt, pepper, a few of the roasted garlic cloves (when squeezed a nice soft garlic paste should come out, this is what you are using), a few of the roast sage leaves  and use a potato masher to roughly mix together.  I don't like the mash to be too smooth so I leave a few chunky bits in.  Check the seasoning and serve with the chicken.

Happy Halloween!!!