Step 1

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Step 2

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Use about 3/4ths of the shallots and half of the sage to create a bed for the chicken in a large roasting pan, place the chicken on top. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the remaining sage and shallots, reserving one nice looking spring of sage to garnish the chicken. Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken to coat, and sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string or a roasting band and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Lay the bacon slices over the chicken to cover.

Step 3

Roast the chicken for 1 hour. If the bacon looks crispy, remove the bacon slices from the top of the chicken and set aside. (If the bacon isn’t crispy, check it again in 5-7 minutes & remove.) Continue roasting the chicken for an additional 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove from the oven and tent with foil for 5-10 minutes.

Step 4

*If you’d like to make a pan gravy, see directions below.

Step 5

Place the chicken on a platter for serving, replacing the bacon and adding the fresh sage for garnish.

Step 6

Remove the shallots & sage from the bottom of the roasting pan, leaving at least 2 tablespoons of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Place the roasting pan over two burners on medium-high and add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until reduced by half. Serve with the chicken.