No one wants to cook during hot summer weather, but this one-tray roast chicken recipe is simple to make and utterly mouthwatering to have for dinner.

Nigella Lawson’s Italian roast chicken is made with colourful peppers, zesty lemon, and herbs to make it a delightful summer meal which is very quick and easy to put together.

It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare this tasty recipe before it slowly roasts in the oven for one hour so that the vegetables become tender and the chicken becomes crispy.

On her website, Nigella said: “A roast chicken always feels celebratory; indeed, a roast chicken always is celebratory.

“The vibrantly coloured and intensely flavoured vegetables that are cooked alongside here seem only to underline this, offering their own brightness and brio, sunny in taste as well as mood.”

Method 

To begin, preheat the oven to 200C (180C Fan or Gas Mark).

Place the chicken in the roasting tin, cut any string and also cut the lemon in half. Put the lemon halves and two of the rosemary sprigs into the chicken cavity.

Wash and trim the leeks, then cut each one into three pieces. Slice each leek piece lengthways and add to the roasting tin.

Next, wash the peppers, then remove the cores and seeds of the peppers. Slice the peppers into strips and also add them to the roasting tin.

Pour the olives into the roasting tin and drizzle over the olive oil, mostly on the vegetables but also get some on the chicken as well, then season everything with salt and pepper.

Add any remaining rosemary sprigs to the roasting tin, then use a spoon or spatula to gently toss the vegetables around the tin to make sure everything is evenly coated.

Sprinkle some salt over the chicken and place it in the oven to roast for roughly one hour or a little while longer. Make sure the chicken is fully cooked though with the juices running clear.

Once ready, take out the oven, remove the chicken from the roasting tin and place on a carving board to rest for 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and the vegetables back in for 10 minutes to keep warm.

Cut the chicken into chunky pieces and add to a platter. Take the tin out of the oven and place the vegetables on the platter as well.

Pour over all the cooking juices collected in the roasting tin all over the chicken and your tasty Itlian traybake is ready to serve.