Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Depending on how firm the ’nduja is, mix it into the crème fraîche by hand or in a small blender, adding salt and pepper to taste. From the neck end, gently pull the chicken skin away from the breast, without tearing, and opening it up with your finger all the way to the back of the bird. Spoon the ’nduja crème fraîche into the gap you have created, pushing it further in and flattening it out so it is evenly spread over the whole of the top of the bird.
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C F/Gas mark 7. Put the onion half inside the cavity of the bird, then squeeze the lemon all over the skin and place the hull inside the cavity. Cut the butter into thin slices and place all over the outside of the chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper over, put the bird in a roasting tin and roast for 15 minutes. Take it out and baste with the buttery juices, then turn the oven down to 200C/180C F/Gas 6 and cook for a further 30-45 minutes until cooked through.
Rest the chicken for 10 minutes before serving in its tin, spooning the creamy sauce over the bird as you carve.
Recipes and photographs taken from Service by Anna Hedworth, photography by Andrew Montgomery (Quadrille, £30)
