Chicken cooked in milk with buttered spinach

Ingredients

• 1 butterflied chicken (about 1.6 kg)
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 peeled garlic cloves
• 10 sage leaves
• Thinly peeled rind of 1 lemon
• 80 ml (1/3 cup) white wine
• 650 ml milk
• Finely grated parmesan and fried sage, to serve
• Buttered spinach
• 20 gm unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 bunch of English spinach, trimmed
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

1. 1

   1: Remove chicken from refrigerator (30 minutes) and season generously.

2. 2

   2: Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced. Heat olive oil in a large casserole over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, skin-side down, until golden (3-4 minutes). Turn, and cook until light golden (2-3 minutes). Transfer chicken to a plate. Add garlic, sage, lemon and wine to casserole and bring to a simmer. Add milk, whisk to combine and season to taste. Return chicken, skin-side up, to casserole and roast in oven until golden and milk has formed curds (40-45 minutes). Remove chicken from casserole and set aside to rest (15 minutes).

3. 3

   3: Meanwhile, for buttered spinach, melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until foaming. Add spinach and sauté until tender (2-3 minutes). Remove from heat; stir through nutmeg and season to taste.

4. 4

   4: Cut chicken into 8 pieces and arrange on a serving platter; top with milk curds, garlic, lemon peel, grated parmesan and fried sage. Serve with buttered spinach on the side.