Roast chicken stuffed with parsley, hazelnuts and butter

Growing up, I would always remember Sunday night being a roast dinner night. My memories include B's graphic description............"burnt dinners". The vegetables would have that beautiful crunchy appearance about them (by no means burnt) but to a small child anything with a little colour is classified as "burnt".  My Mr 6 always tells me to put the toaster on number 1 (which means the bread has only basically just warmed up and has no colour what so ever!!) Heaven forbid if it looked slightly brown.
I did like the our roast nights and I know if I admit to something, I'll never hear the end of it from some people out there??? Alright, I'm not keen on gravy. Yes, you heard correctly.....even though Mum and Dad would ALWAYS make the gravy from scratch, I just had mine plain. I do make it at home now, however, I still go without gravy on my own dinner. I'm not really sure why. I have made the effort to taste it but I just prefer it without.
I don't really have a favourite roast meat as I love them all. A standout though, is this roast chicken recipe from Karen Martini's book, "Feasting". The flavours are amazing and so simple to make. Everything goes under the skin of the chicken, creating the wonderful flavours and also makes for a great texture on the outside.
You will need:
2 red onions, thickly sliced
1 tablespoon sea salt, or to taste
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
50g hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
100g butter, softened
1.6 kg chicken
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, sliced

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (fan-forced).. Line a baking dish or cast-iron dish with onion slices ( the dish should be just large enough to hold the chicken).

Gently pound the salt, garlic, peppercorns and olive oil in a mortar and pestle. Gradually add the parsley and hazelnuts and pound to a rough paste.

Spoon the mixture into a bowl and stir in the butter.

Dry the chicken inside and out with paper towel and season well. Make small pockets under the breast and leg skin using your fingers, then gently spread the stuffing over the breast and legs between the skin and meat (take care not to tear the skin).

Stuff lemon slices into the cavity and place the chicken on the onions in the baking dish.

Roast for about 1 1/4 hours, basting with the pan juices halfway through the cooking time. The chicken should be golden and cooked through. Check by inserting a skewer in the thickest part of the thigh - if the juices are still a bit pink, roast for another 10 minutes or so. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Mmmmmm it was good!! M x