POLLO ARROSTO
Roast Chicken With Rice Stuffing
Ethically farmed produce is something that we have always been passionate about and you’d be hard pressed to find it done better than at Milking Yard Farm in Trentham. Bruce and Roz have the utmost respect for produce and their practices. When you eat their chicken you taste what chicken is truly supposed to taste like. These birds are noble and eating them really is a humbling experience.
In this dish we celebrate the bird by using a simple recipe with a stuffing flavoured by the cooking juices. Cooking it on a rack with the water in the bottom allows the delicious juices to drip into the pan – they can be spooned on top when serving. If you can’t use Milking Yard chicken, use another free-range, ethically raised chicken.
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
1 x 1.8 kg chicken
30 g chopped flat-leaf parsley
30 g chopped rosemary
30 g chopped sage
Juice of 2 lemons
100 ml olive oil
Salt and cracked black pepper
Filling
50 ml olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
500 g carnaroli rice
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
1 bay leaf
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
600 ml hot chicken stock
30 g Parmigiano, grated
30 g unsalted butter
Salt and cracked black pepper
Method
To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic until softened, about 2 minutes.
Add the rice, thyme, bay leaf and lemon zest and mix well. Add the hot stock, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the rice slowly, for about 8 minutes, stirring every now and then to make sure the rice is not sticking.
Once the rice has absorbed the liquid, but is still firm, remove from the heat, stir in the Parmigiano and butter, then season with salt and pepper. The rice needs to be very firm as it will continue to cook once inside the chicken. Pour the rice onto a tray and spread it out into a thin layer so it stops cooking quickly. Allow to cool before stuffing the chicken.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan-forced).
Tunnel bone the chicken to remove the carcass, or ask your butcher to do this for you. The bones can be kept to make a stock.
Fill the chicken with the cooled rice mixture until it is filled but not firmly packed and then place a skewer through the legs to keep the shape of the chook, or secure with butcher’s twine.
Combine the herbs, lemon juice and olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Rub the mixture all over the chicken, making sure you cover it completely.
Place the chook on a rack in a deep roasting tin, then add enough water to the tin to come to a depth of 1 cm. Roast for 1 hour 15–20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the filling reaches 75°C on a probe thermometer.
Remove the chicken from the oven and set it aside to rest before serving.