Maple Bacon Roast Chicken

Makes 4 - 6 servings

Prep time: 25 mins

Cooking time: 1 hr 5 mins

Maple roasted and succulently juicy, this bacon-latticed roast chook is a festive feast for the table!

All ovens are slightly different. To check if the chicken is fully cooked, insert a skewer into the thickest part of the thigh - when the juices run clear the chicken is cooked.
We love the lattice pattern on the chicken as a special festive touch but, you can also simply wrap/arrange the bacon around the chicken in any way!

Place the chicken in a roasting dish and season all over the skin and inside the cavity with salt and pepper. Drizzle over the maple syrup and rub or brush all over the skin.
Add the stuffing mix to a bowl with 1/3 cup cold water. Mix to combine and stuff inside the cavity of the chicken.
Cut bacon strips in half lengthways so that you have 16 long thin strips. Weave the bacon strips in a lattice* or woven pattern over the chicken breast before trussing the chicken legs. Add to a large oven-proof roasting tray.
Arrange the kūmara and red onion around the chicken and drizzle with olive oil and season further with salt and pepper.
Roast for 15 minutes at 220°C bake, then turn down to 180°C to roast for another 50 - 60 minutes. Brush the bacon with extra maple syrup when it is nearly finished cooking.
Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 -10 minutes before carving and serving.

To make the bacon lattice, lay out half the bacon strips side by side vertically across the breast to create a base.⁠ Weave in the next rashers by lifting up every other rasher of bacon from the base layer and laying the next piece across them.⁠ For each new piece of bacon, alternate the rashers that you fold up from the base layer. ⁠Continue until you have weaved all the bacon across the chicken breast. Finally, tuck the ends of the bacon strips under the chicken.