Ainsley Harriott served up a tasty Middle-Eastern Aromatic and Spicy Roast Chicken with Roasted Roots and Gravy on Ainsley’s Fantastic Flavours.

For the ingredients for the chicken are: 1 x 1.5kg chicken, cleaned inside and out and patted dry, 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tbsp Za’atar spice blend, 1 tsp sumac, ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp Aleppo pepper/pul biber, 1 lemon, (juice and zest of ½ and one ½), 2 tbsp butter, softened, 2 sprigs of thyme, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, 2 tbsp chopped coriander, to serve.

For the Gravy: 75ml of dry white wine, 1 tbsp plain flour, 300-400 ml of chicken stock and ½ lemon, for squeezing.

For the Roasted Roots: 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thick slices or wedges, 2 large carrots, scraped and cut into quarters, 2 medium beetroot, scrubbed, top and tailed, cut into wedges, 1 large parsnip, cut into chunks, 1 red onion, cut into 6 wedges, 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled, 4 sprigs of thyme, 1 lemon, cut into wedges, 1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed, 3 tbsp olive oil, sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, handful of precooked chestnuts, roughly chopped and runny honey, for drizzling (optional).

See more recipes by Ainsley in his book titled: Ainsley’s Good Mood Food: 100 easy, comforting meals (including all the recipes from the major ITV series) available from Amazon now.