Recipes

Spring chicks

For 6 people / Preparation 20 minutes / Baking 40–50 minutes

100 g softened butter + for greasing
3 organic lemons
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 handful of fresh marjoram
3 handfuls of fresh thyme
6 spring chickens
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Grease a baking sheet with butter and prepare the spiced butter: grate the zest of one lemon into a bowl on a fine grater, add the butter, garlic, marjoram, thyme, pepper and mix everything together.
2. Wash and dry the chickens. Carefully lift the skin on the breast to create a pocket. Pour some of the butter mixture into it, pull the skin back and spread the rest of the mixture over the chicken. Do the same with all the chickens. Cut the remaining two lemons into sixths and put two pieces inside each chicken.
3. I salt and pepper the chickens, place them on a baking sheet, breast side up, and bake them.
After 15–20 minutes, I cover the chicken with aluminum foil and bake for another 20–30 minutes.
I remove the foil for the last 5 minutes. Then I take the chickens out of the oven and let them rest covered with foil for 10 minutes. I serve them with potatoes or bread.

You can find this recipe, and many others, in my cookbook The Diary of Dita P.