Ingredients

12 spring onions, trimmed

2 tbsp olive oil

4 oven ready poussins

75g/3oz butter (at room temperature)

8 fresh sage leaves, plus extra to garnish

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

225g/8oz Swiss chard, thick stalk removed and roughly chopped

coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


Oven-baked Poussin with Sage and Roasted Garlic

Preheat the oven to 180OC/350OF/Gas 4. Arrange the spring onions in a roasting tin. Season generously and toss in half the olive oil until evenly coated.

Loosen the skin around the neck of each poussin and push under a little of the butter until evenly spread over the breast, then push a sage leaf down each side so that they are clearly visible.

Arrange the poussins on the bed of spring onions and scatter over the garlic. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil and season to taste. Roast for 35 minutes until the poussins are completely tender and golden brown. Leave to rest in a warm place for at least 10 minutes.

To serve, heat the remaining knob of butter in a pan and quickly sauté the chard for a minute or two until wilted. Season to taste and divide among warmed serving plates. Add some of the roasted spring onions to each one and sit a poussin on top. Scatter over the sage leaves to garnish and serve with creamy mashed potato.