A twist on the classic roast chicken.
Ingredients
1 organic whole chicken about 1.2 kg deboned (2.6 lbs) (I used a small chicken for this recipe)
250-300grams (0.551-0.661 lbs) of organic chicken thigh mince
Handful of parsley
1 clove of garlic chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
Sprig of thyme
1/4 cup of almond meal mixed with 2 Tbls of water.
1 rasher of bacon chopped (optional)
1 medium mushroom chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1 egg
Salt
Pepper
3 sprigs of rosemary
1-2 cups of water
Oil/ghee
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees (356F)
Ask your friendly butcher to debone your whole chicken keeping the skin on and flesh where the drumsticks are and removing the wings or do it yourself at home.
Lay your chicken skin side down and sprinkle salt on the flesh. Butterfly any thick meat from the breast.
In a large bowl combine the mince, parsley, parmesan(optional), garlic, thyme, bacon(optional), almond meal, mushroom, celery, egg, salt and pepper. You could hand blend all the vegetables, bacon and herbs to get a fine consistency.
You could use toothpicks to secure any holes where the drumsticks are before you spread the mince mixture.
Spread the mince mixture onto the whole surface of the chicken in one layer. Have a large skewer ready to seal the chicken closed. Roll and fold the chicken starting at one end and skewer the opening closed. Secure any openings that you see on the sides with toothpicks. Your chicken should resemble a loaf shape with all ends securely intact. Salt and oil the outside of the chicken.
You will need a wire rack and tray for roasting
Lay your chicken on the wire roasting rack. In the tray add 1- 2 cups of water and rosemary, place the tray under the chicken that will sit on the wire rack.
Let the chicken cook and brown for 40 minutes keeping the water topped up if it dries out. Turn the chicken carefully and brown the other side for 10-15 minutes. Test if cooked. If it’s a large chicken cook for 1 1/2 hours turning once.
Remove chicken and let sit for 5 minutes. Then remove all the toothpicks and skewer, slice and serve.
