Roast Poussin with Wild Garlic Butter and Spring Greens

⏱ 60 min · Serves 4

Whole baby chickens roasted hot and fast with vivid green wild garlic butter pushed under the skin, so the flesh bastes itself as it cooks. The juices, thickened with a splash of white wine, become a glossy pan sauce for buttery new potatoes and greens. Springtime on a plate, and far easier than it looks.

Per serving: 842 kcal · 58.0g protein · 32.0g carbs · 52.0g fat

Ingredients

• 4 poussin (approx. 450–500g each)
• 80g wild garlic leaves, washed and dried
• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• Zest of 1 lemon, plus the lemon halved
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt, plus extra
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 150ml dry white wine
• 150ml chicken stock
• 600g baby new potatoes, halved if large
• 300g spring greens or tenderstem broccoli, trimmed
• 1 tbsp cold butter, to finish the sauce

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Blitz the wild garlic with 150g of the softened butter, the lemon zest, 1 tsp flaky salt and plenty of pepper in a food processor until vivid green and smooth. Scrape into a bowl.
2. Pat the poussin dry. Slide your fingers gently under the breast skin from the neck end to loosen it, then push a heaped tablespoon of wild garlic butter under the skin of each bird, smoothing it flat from the outside.
3. Rub the remaining 50g plain butter and the olive oil over the outside of the birds, season all over, and tuck a lemon quarter into each cavity. Tie the legs with string.
4. Sit the poussin in a large roasting tin, breast up and not touching. Roast for 30–35 minutes, basting once at the halfway point, until deeply golden and the juices from the thigh run clear (75C on a thermometer).
5. Meanwhile, boil the new potatoes in well-salted water for 15 minutes until tender, drain and keep warm. Steam or boil the greens for 3–4 minutes just before serving.
6. Lift the poussin onto a warm board, cover loosely with foil and rest for 10 minutes.
7. Set the roasting tin over a medium heat, pour in the wine and scrape up the sticky bits. Bubble for 2 minutes, add the stock and reduce by half, then whisk in the cold butter and any resting juices. Taste and season.
8. Toss the potatoes and greens with a spoonful of the remaining wild garlic butter. Serve each poussin whole or split down the backbone, with the pan sauce spooned over.