I made this for the family on Christmas Eve and it went down a treat. I hope you all enjoyed the festivities!
Ingredients
1 large chicken
Mixed Mushroom Stuffing
Olive oil
2 C bread crumbs
2 C mixed mushrooms
1 Onion
1 handful of fresh thyme
1 egg
4 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
1 hand full of pine nuts
Sea salt & pepper
Pea Puree
1 bag of frozen peas
2 C chicken stock
1 Tbsp Parmesan
Pepper & salt
1 large kumara
2 large potatoes
1 red onion
2 carrots
1/2 small pumpkin
1 garlic bulb
4 Tbsp sweet thai chilli
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 240°C. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan, add onion and garlic (finely chopped) and cook for about 5-10 minutes until soft, not coloured. Add mushrooms with the leaves from your thyme sprigs. Turn the heat up to high and fry for 5-10 minutes until the mushrooms go slightly crispy. Remove from heat, grate in lemon zest and season well. Tip into a bowl and leave to one side to cool.
Once cooled, mix in the pine nuts and breadcrumbs, then add the egg. Cut a hole in-between the skin of the chicken and the meat and create a pocket for the stuffing. Push a quarter of the stuffing into this pocket and roll the remaining mixture into balls and pop around the chicken in the roasting dish. Cut your zested lemon in half and place in the chicken cavity with the remaining thyme sprigs. Drizzle olive oil over chicken and season with salt and pepper.
Once cooled, mix in the pine nuts and breadcrumbs, then add the egg. Cut a hole in-between the skin of the chicken and the meat and create a pocket for the stuffing. Push a quarter of the stuffing into this pocket and roll the remaining mixture into balls and pop around the chicken in the roasting dish. Cut your zested lemon in half and place in the chicken cavity with the remaining thyme sprigs. Drizzle olive oil over chicken and season with salt and pepper.
Follow the roast vege medley recipe from this blog and cook in synchronisation with the roast chicken.
Place in the preheated oven and turn the heat down to 200°C. Cook for 40 minutes, then add your mushroom stuffing balls to the tray. Return to the oven and cook for a further 35 minutes until gorgeous and golden.
Whilst this is cooking, 15 minutes before the chicken is ready, boil your peas in the chicken stock, then drain stock into a bowl and drizzle in the stock until you have enough moisture to whizz the peas into a thick puree. Add the parmesan and season with pepper and salt and whizz to blend.
Prepare your red wine jus (follow previous recipe from this blog)at the same time you prepare the pea puree. This will be used to drizzle over the meal at the end.
To check your chicken is cooked, stick a skewer into the fattest part of the thigh – if the juices run clear, your chicken is done. Leave to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. This meal should serve 6-8 people, depending on the size of your chicken.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
