Jamie Oliver's Chicken Panzanella

Even though it is summer, I'm still roasting chickens and heating up my kitchen! I shared these photos on Instagram and Facebook, and there were some friends that wanted the recipe, so I'm doing this post for them and for those that might want to try it out. Since it is in the newest issue of Jamie Oliver's magazine, and this magazine is not very easy to find, I thought I would type it up for you all. Jamie had some issues with the US distributers of his magazine, and it all but disappeared for a while there. I found it in a little magazine shop that alerted me that it arrived again. I love reading it, it is so thoughtfully put together. Anyway here is the recipe, and I will do my best to translate the metric and the different oven temp.



Jaime Oliver's Chicken Panzanella


1  3 1/2 lb. whole chicken

Olive oil

A bunch of mixed herbs, such as sage, rosemary and thyme

1 ciabatta loaf

1 Garlic bulb cloves crushed

4lbs fresh ripe tomatoes

A bunch of basil, leaves picked

1 small red onion, finely sliced

Red wine vinegar

Whole black olives ( I used pitted kalamata) about a cup

2 tsp. capers

Parmesan for shaving


Now....you will notice, if you have not used Jamie's recipes before, that there are measurements left off of some of the ingredients. A lot of Jamie's cooking involves going by feel and to your taste. I will tell you what I did as a side note at the end of the recipe.


1. Preheat oven to 350 Rub the chicken with salt, pepper and olive oil,and stuff with the herbs, reserving some rosemary for later.

2.Tear up the ciabatta and scatter in a roasting tin along with the crushed garlic and place the chicken on top. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, until cooked through and the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a skewer. When the chicken is cooked, take it out of the oven and leave it to rest.

3. Roughly chop the tomatoes into different shapes and sizes. Keep half to one side and add the rest to a large bowl with half of the basil leaves. Keep the remaining leaves for later.

4.Add the onion to the bowl along with a good splash of red wine vinegar.  Scrunch the whole lot together with your hands. you want to end up with a colorful , tasty pulp. Taste and season, if necessary.

5.Add 4 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of black pepper, then give it a good stir. Take the bread from the roasting tray and add most of it to the bowl (reserving a few pieces), and toss together really well.

6. Chop up the olives and add to the bowl along with the capers and remaining tomatoes, bread and basil. Mix gently to bring it all together and finish with a sprinkling of rosemary leaves and shavings of parmesean. Carve chicken and serve with the Panzanella.

My side notes. Make sure to really get a chicken as close to what he says in this recipe. I unfortunately got a chicken that was closer to 5 lbs, and it took more time, and I had to fish out some of the surrounding bread out before it got too toasted dark. The other thing I would recommend would be to but all the garlic cloves under the chicken and keep them in their skins. The exposed garlic got a little too toasty and then it became bitter :( or you could peel and crush them but again, protect them under the chicken.
Also, I always roast my chickens at 400 so I did a combo. I started it out at 400 for about 20min., Then dropped it down to 350. Since my chicken was a hulking beast, I had to up the temp again, because it was just taking way too long. That is why you should try and get a smaller chicken than I did.
I don't really care for raw chopped up rosemary, so I omitted the step of sprinkling it on. The  more herbs the better though for more flavor.

All in all the dish turned out wonderful, and next time I think I will use heirloom tomatoes when they are at their peak.

Let me know if you make this and if you liked it as much as we did! Happy cooking!!!