Roast Chicken with Spinach, Lemon & Mint Stuffing
Ingredients
STUFFING
1 cup cooked spinach – drained and pureed
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon butter
Zest of one lemon, save the lemon for juicing over the chicken once cooked
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
1 egg
Olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tegel whole chicken
Pinch of salt (about ¼ teaspoon)
Description
By stuffing the chicken under the skin, as well as in the cavity, this roast chicken is deliciously moist and the lemon, spinach and mint flavours impart a wonderful fresh spring flavour to this roast dinner.
Serves 4-6
Method
Preheat oven to 220C.
To prepare the chicken: rinse and pat dry the cavity, sprinkle a decent pinch of salt inside and place in a greased oven dish, breast side up.
To make stuffing: In a bowl mix all stuffing ingredients together until well combined. Ease the skin of each breast away from the flesh, without tearing it. Using a spoon, or your hands, tuck about 2-3 tablespoons of stuffing under each side, pushing it down until the area is full. No need to get too fussy. The remaining stuffing can be packed into the main cavity. Whilst there’s no need to fully “truss” the chook, I do recommend securing the legs together, with either string, toothpicks or skewers, so that the stuff doesn’t fall out.
To cook: Brush the top with olive oil and cook at 220C for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180C and cook for a further 45-60 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
To serve: Let the cooked chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving. Take the drums and thighs off first. Then remove each breast as a whole so you can carve these into thick slices so that each serve gets a layer of the stuffing – yum yum! Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken pieces and serve with a fresh green salad. Easy and delicious!
Categories
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