Main Dishes


Lemony Roast Chicken

Chef's Note: It sounds simple, and it is: nothing more than chicken, olive oil, rosemary, lemon, and garlic. But when chef Evan Kleiman began serving this rustic Italian-style roast chicken at Los Angeles’s Angeli Café back in 1984, it turned out to be everything her customers were craving – honest food prepared with minimal fuss. Serve with rice or buttered noodles.

  • 1 3 ½-lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces
  • ½ cup California Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup fresh rosemary leaves
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • 10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 lemon, peel removed, pith and pulp chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Toss the chicken pieces with the California Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil, rosemary, lemon juice, garlic, lemon, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Marinate for about 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 475°F. Arrange the chicken in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and add the remaining marinade. Roast, turning once, until cooked through, 30-40 minutes.

Divide chicken between 4 plates and serve.

Recipe Credit: Saveur: The New Comfort Food (Chronicle Books, 2011), edited by James Oseland. Reprinted with permission from Chronicle Books.

Time Level Yield
100 Minutes Easy 4 servings

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