Whole roast chicken with pork and pancetta stuffing
Ingredients
for the stuffing
1 tbsp olive oil
100g pancetta, roughly chopped
100g shallot, peeled and finely chopped
120g ciabatta bread crumbs
200g sausage meat
1 tbsp fresh sage
1 lemon zest
sea salt & black pepper
for the chicken
1.6kg free range whole chicken
130g butter
6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
1 lemon zest
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
sea salt & black pepper
100ml olive oil
for the chubby pigs
1 pack Toulouse sausages
1 pack dry cured air-dried smoked streaky bacon
for the gravy
500ml Chicken Stock
50g Plain flour
100ml White wine
Method
To make the stuffing, heat a frying pan on medium with the olive oil and lightly fry the pancetta and shallot until softened and starting to brown. When ready transfer to a bowl and add the ciabatta breadcrumbs, sausage meat, sage, lemon zest and season well with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Mix this all together and put to one side whilst preparing the chicken.
To cook the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 180’C/350’F/gas mark 4. First make the garlic and herb butter by softening the butter in a microwave for 10 seconds. Be careful not to melt the butter. Add the chopped garlic, thyme, rosemary and lemon zest and mix well. Place the chopped carrot, celery and onion in a non-stick baking tray. Place the chicken on top of the chopped vegetables. Make two small slices in to the skin of the top of the chicken breasts so that you are able to pipe in the garlic and herb butter. When you have piped some of the mixture in, massage the butter down the breasts on the outside of the skin until evenly covered. If there is a little butter left over smooth over the outside of the chicken for extra flavour whilst cooking. Stuff the chicken cavity with the stuffing. Season the chicken well with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and pour over the olive oil ensuring the bird has been fully covered in olive oil. Place into the pre-heated oven and cook for 90 minutes basting occasionally with the natural juices. Check with your meat thermometer the thighs have reached a core temperature of 75’c, or that the juices run clear when making an incision on the meaty thigh. When cooked remove the chicken from the tray and place on a chopping board and cover with tin foil for 15 minutes before serving to allow the bird to rest.
To cook the chubby pigs, using scissors or a knife separate the linked Toulouse sausages. Now slightly squeeze in the middle of the sausage pushing the meat more to the ends of the casing to create two chubby cocktail sausages and twist the casing in the centre to separate them off. Cut the middle so you now have two mini chubby sausages. Continue with the remaining sausages. Wrap each chubby tightly with a rasher of streaky bacon. Pan fry the chubbys to brown before placing in the oven for 12-15 minutes to cook through.
To make the gravy, when you have taken the chicken out of the oven and placed it on a board to rest, carefully spoon off and discard the vegetables and any oil from the surface of the juices in the tray. Place the tray with the juices onto the stove top and on a low heat bring to a simmer. Whilst stirring gently pour in the flour until mixed in thoroughly. Add the chicken stock and white wine, mix, then pass through a sieve into a clean saucepan. Place the saucepan on a medium heat and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes to thicken.
To serve, carve the chicken and serve with the chubby pigs in blankets, gravy and a selection of seasonal vegetables and roast potatoes.