Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Season chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Tuck the wings.

3. Mix the butter, lemon zest, thyme, 1 ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl.

4. Loosen the chicken skin by sliding your fingers gently between the breast skin and the meat beginning at the top of the breast down to the thighs.

5. Rub half of the butter mixture evenly under the chicken skin on the meat and rub the other half on the outside of the chicken.

6. Place 6 lemon wedges inside the cavity and tie the end of the drumsticks together with cotton twine.

7. Place chicken in a roasting pan. Arrange the remaining lemon wedges around the chicken.

8. Roast in preheated 375°F oven 2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 170°F in the breast and 180°F in the thigh or until the juices run clear. Baste chicken with accumulated pan juices every 15 to 20 minutes.