Step 1

Early in the day (at least 4 hours in advance) mix the rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil together in a small bowl. Rinse the chicken breasts and pat them dry. Press the rosemary mixture into the flesh of the chicken on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4-8 hours

Step 2

When ready to bake chicken, preheat the oven to 450˚F and put a rack in the middle position. I like to line my sheet pan with foil to make clean-up easy.

Step 3

Place the chicken breasts on a shallow roasting pan skin side down. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the breasts skin side up. Continue roasting until the breasts reach 160˚F* in the thickest part, another 15-30 minutes. If breasts vary greatly in size you may need to remove the smaller ones 5 minutes before the larger ones. Cover chicken with foil and allow to rest, loosely covered with foil, for 5 minutes before serving.