This is an all-in-one dish, where the deboned chicken encases a stuffing of rice and chestnuts. It will slice very easily and the sweetness of the chestnuts is set off with a simple parsley vinaigrette. Deboning a chicken is a complicated job, so unless you are very confident, it is best to ask your butcher to do it for you.
Ingredients
- 1 large deboned free-range chicken, wings removed
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
For the Stuffing
- Olive oil
- ½ onion, peeled and diced
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
- 1 celery stalk, trimmed and diced
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- 3 ounces peeled cooked chestnuts, broken into pieces
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup cooked mixed rice, such as basmati or wild rice
- 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
For the Parsley Dressing
- Leaves from small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- ½ Tbsp grainy mustard
- 1–1½ Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 5 Tbsp olive oil
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- First prepare the stuffing. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add a glug of oil. Sauté the onion for 4 minutes, then add the garlic and continue to cook for another 1–2 minutes until softened. Add the celery, then stir in the pine nuts and chestnuts, taste, and season well with salt and pepper. Add the cooked rice and parsley, stir again, then taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
- Place the deboned chicken skin side down on a work surface. Season with salt and pepper inside. Place the stuffing in the center of the chicken and fold the sides around it. Tie the chicken at regular intervals with string, then turn the parcel over so that the breast faces upward.
- Drizzle olive oil over the outside of the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Place in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour, basting now and again, then turn the oven up to 400°F and roast for an additional 15–20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden and crisp. Remove and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
- Meanwhile, make the parsley dressing. Finely chop the parsley and garlic. Mix with the mustard and vinegar, then add the olive oil bit by bit, whisking continuously to thicken.
- Serve the stuffed chicken in slices with the dressing spooned on top.
