For the past month we have been eating lemons almost daily—lemon pudding, lemon pound cake, lemon chiffon cake, lemon gelatin, lemonade, Chinese lemon chicken, lemon vinaigrette, and on and on. When I mentioned my dilemma to photographer Matt Wilson while we were chatting during a lull at the wine fair on Saturday, he described a technique for roasting chicken on a bed of salt and lemons. Perfect! When I tried the recipe, I butterflied the chicken and added some herbs under the skin. The result was a an easy yet delicious Sunday dinner—and several lemons down. I served the chicken with lemon risotto, asparagus, and spinach (also seriously in season right now) and paired it with a 2009 Carmen Insignia Sauvignon Blanc. Note that the quantity of salt and lemons will vary depending on the size of your roasting pan.

Lemon chicken roasted on a bed of sea salt

1 whole roasting chicken
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) coarse sea salt
5 or 6 whole lemons 
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest, removed with a zester and finely chopped 
Additional lemon juice for the chicken
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Prepare the roasting pan by pouring out a good layer of coarse sea salt (about  a centimeter / half inch thick). Slice the lemons and layer them over the salt.

Rinse the chicken and butterfly it: cut out the backbone (which is easiest to do with poultry shears), then turn the chicken over and press it down gently to flatten it out a bit. Rub the chicken all over with half a lemon. Combine the thyme and lemon zest in a small bowl, and add a squeeze of lemon to make a thin paste. Use a finger to separate the skin from the meat on one side of the breast, then spread about a quarter of the paste under the skin. Repeat with the other side of the breast and both thighs. Rub the top of the chicken with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then lay it in the roasting pan on top of the salt and lemons.

Roast the chicken at 425 F for about an hour, until the skin is golden and the juice runs clear from the thigh. (I’ve had problems with undercooked roast chickens in the past, so I generally let them roast until the meat is pulling away from the bone on the drumstick, and I’ve never had a problem with dry chicken.) After you remove the chicken from the oven, let it rest for ten or fifteen minutes before cutting it up. To serve, remove the thighs, then separate the drumsticks from the thighs. Use a knife or poultry shears to cut the chicken in half lengthwise down the middle of the breast. Remove the wings, then cut each breast half in half again. This gives you eight pieces of chicken, plus the wings.