1 hour before roasting, take the chicken out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature. This helps it cook more evenly!
In a small bowl, combine all of the pumpkin butter ingredients. If you want to make the consistency extra creamy, feel free to throw it all in a blender.
Place the chicken flat on a cutting board and dry it off with a paper towel. Flip it over so the breasts are touching the board and the wings are closest to you.
Using kitchen shears, cut down on one side of the spine.
Then, cut down on the other side of the spine. Remove the spine and open the rib cage to remove any random giblets that might be left. You can keep the spine for making a chicken stock later on!
Flip the chicken over and firmly press down on the center to flatten it.
Once the chicken is flattened, take a rubber spatula (or your hand) and gently separate the skin from the meat, all over the chicken in the breast, thigh and drumstick areas. Be careful as to not rip the skin!
With your spatula or hand (feel free to wear gloves if raw meat skeeves you out) rub as much pumpkin butter under the skin as possible. I used all of the butter in the recipe for a 4.25 lb chicken.
Drizzle olive oil on the outside of the chicken and rub it into the skin. Sprinkle more salt and pepper all over the chicken as well.
Place the chicken onto a sheet pan with chopped root vegetables of your choice. Roast at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the deepest part of the breast is 160 degrees internally. If you are cooking a smaller 2 lb chicken, check on it at 30 minutes and take the internal temp.
Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes and check that the internal temp has risen to at least 165 degrees. Carve and serve! Store leftovers in a zip lock bag for up to 3 days in the fridge.