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Kotopoulo Psito sto Fourno (Chicken Roast)

Kotopoulo Psito sto Fourno (Chicken Roast)

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Kotopoulo Psito sto Fourno is Greek roasted chicken with potatoes cooked with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon juice.

“Kotopoulo” pr. koh-TOH-pou-loh, is chicken, “psito”  pr. psee-toh, means roast and “sto fourno” pr. stoh-FOUHR- noh, means baked in the oven.

The Cypriot recipe is somewhat different.  My mom would not add oregano or garlic but some cinnamon and she would also add some sliced carrots, tomatoes and onions.

This would be our usual Sunday lunch, although most of the times my mum and later my dad, would make it with lamb, as Cypriots LOVE lamb!

I’ve adopted my mother’s recipe but although I do not add cinnamon any more, I love adding oregano, which I hated when we first moved to Greece.

The chicken becomes crispy you want to eat all the skin. The addition of orange juice, usually from Seville oranges (or any other oranges) which is my twist, together with the carrots, tomatoes and onions, add a sweetness to the chicken and potatoes, that you cannot stop eating them.

You can make the roast with whole baby potatoes or large ones.  The baby potatoes are cooked with the skin on, after being washed thoroughly.  

Depending on the size of the potatoes (a bit bigger than a large egg), you either cut it in half and make a slit with a sharp knife or for bigger potatoes you cut them in the middle and cut each half into 3 or 4 wedges about 3 cm thick.

If you don’t want to slave in the kitchen on a beautiful Sunday morning, this takes so little time to prepare and you can do so many other things while it is cooking in the oven.

Kotopoulo Psito sto fourno photo

How to prepare Kotopoulo Psito sto fourno

  1. Wash the chicken.
  2. Cut the garlic into 2 – 3 smaller pieces. Make slits in the breast or thighs and put the garlic inside.
  3. Put it into a roasting pan breast facing down.
  4. Add the slices of carrots, onions and tomatoes.
  5. Wash the baby potatoes thoroughly and then make a slit on each side, so that they can cook through. If using big potatoes peel them and cut them in the middle. Then cut wedges about 3 cm thick.
  6. Season with salt and pepper and oregano (or cinnamon for the Cypriot roast), on both chicken, potatoes and other vegetables and mix.
  7. Add the olive oil, lemon and orange juice and enough water to cover the potatoes up to the middle.
  8. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C /350 F and roast until golden on one side.
  9. Turn the chicken and potatoes over and roast until golden and crispy for a total of about 2 hours. Add more water, if necessary.

Serve with a Greek salad and talatouri (Cypriot tzatziki) or with just a yoghurt mustard mixture:  Just mix 2 tsp mild mustard in 250 ml Greek yoghurt.

Preparing Kotopoulo psito with no carrots image

Today I was having back ache problems so my husband offered to do the cooking.   He doesn’t cook often although he can cook some easy dishes.

When we used to work, I would work from 08:30 to 16:30  and my husband from 07:00 to 15:00, so I would do all the preparation of the meal in the morning and my husband, who came home first, would finish it up.  That’s about all he knows of cooking but he is learning more 🙂

Crispy roasted chicken thigh with potatoes image


Today he preparated a Greek Kotopoulo Psito sto Fourno with more garlic and oregano and only lemon juice.   He added some onions and tomatoes but forgot the carrots 🙂

Any way, the lemony potatoes which suck all the lovely Greek flavours, was also very delicious and I am grateful he did the cooking!

Kotopoulo Psito sto fourno (Chicken Roast)

Kotopoulo Psito sto fourno (Chicken Roast)

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours

Kotopoulo Psito sto Fourno is Greek roasted chicken cooked with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon juice.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken (about 2 kilos), skin on
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 24 baby potatoes, skin on
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 1 - 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
  • 6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into slices
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil (my mom used peanut oil or spry)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup fresh Seville orange juice (optional)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 1 cup water

Instructions

  1. Wash the chicken.
  2. Cut the garlic into 2 - 3 smaller pieces. Make slits in the breast or thighs and put the garlic inside.
  3. Put it into a roasting pan breast facing down.
  4. Add the slices of carrots, onions and tomatoes.
  5. Wash the baby potatoes thoroughly and then make a slit on each side, so that they can cook through. If using big potatoes peel them and cut them in the middle. Then cut wedges about 3 cm thick.
  6. Season with salt and pepper and oregano, on both chicken, potatoes and other vegetables and mix.
  7. Add the olive oil, lemon and orange juice and enough water to cover the potatoes up to the middle.
  8. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C /350 F and roast until golden on one side.
  9. Turn the chicken and potatoes over and roast until golden and crispy for a total of about 2 hours. Add more water, if necessary.
  10. Serve with a Greek salad and talatouri (Cypriot tzatziki) or with just a yoghurt mustard mixture: 250 ml yoghurt and 2 tsp mild mustard.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 530Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 24gCholesterol 88mgSodium 175mgCarbohydrates 30gFiber 5gSugar 6gProtein 31g

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Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Collage Crispy roasted chicken image

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

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