Weeknight Butterflied Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic and Lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Rinse the chicken (including the cavity).
3. Dry the chicken with paper towels, and place it on a cutting board, breast side down and backbone side up, with the neck cavity facing you.
4. Cut along either side of the backbone; remove the bone and throw it away.
5. Turn the chicken over, and firmly press on the breastbone to break it.
6. Now that the chicken is ‘splayed out,’ pat it dry again with more paper towels (the drier you can get it, the crisper the skin will bake up).
7. Spread a layer of parchment paper on a large baking sheet and put the chicken on it (cavity side down).
8. Pour the olive oil over the chicken, spreading it over the entire surface with your fingers.
9. Generously season the whole chicken with salt and pepper.
10. Break apart the head of garlic (you don’t need to remove the papery skins on the cloves) and roughly chop one of the lemons into about 6 pieces.
11. Distribute the garlic, rosemary leaves, and chopped lemon on top of and underneath the chicken, with the whole sprig of rosemary underneath.
12. Roast for 35-45 minutes, testing for doneness at 35 minutes. I remove it right before it hits 160F in the breast.
13. Optional: 10 minutes before the roasting time is up, you can smear the skin in butter to add a golden brown color to the skin.
14. Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes before carving and serving. Serve with fresh wedges of lemon and don’t forget to squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skins! It’s one of the best parts.