This is a great dish for summer entertaining and stuffing the chicken with a coriander pesto gives the moist cold chicken a delicious summer fragrance. This dish is designed to be served cold and sliced, perfect with summer salads or in sandwiches for a picnic. This ‘pesto’ is thicker than a normal pesto as it has the addition of ricotta cheese which will make it easier to stuff the chicken with. This dish makes the most of buying a whole chicken but ask your local butcher to completely bone out the chicken. (Ask to keep the bones for making homemade chicken stock, which you can do easily in the ESSE).
Ingredients
- 1 free-range chicken about 2 kg, boned
- Olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Coriander pesto ingredients:
- 1 large bunch of fresh coriander leaves
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 85g walnuts, roasted
- 150g Parmesan style cheese
- 1 pot of ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C (ESSE dial guide HOT).
- Make the ‘pesto’ by putting all the ingredients except the ricotta into a food processor and whizz until all the ingredients are evenly mixed, then add the ricotta cheese and plenty of fresh ground black pepper and mix to incorporate. Taste for seasoning. (Go easy on the salt as the cheese will provide salt)
- Lay out chicken, skin side down and spread over all the stuffing to fill the boned chicken, season the chicken and roll up neatly. Tie up with string.
- Place the chicken in a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and season well.
- Roast for about 1 ½ hours or until cooked (use a temperature probe).
- Leave to cool and refrigerate overnight or slice and eat straight away!
Recipe prepared by Philippa Vine using the ESSE 1000 X Electric Range Cooker at Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen & Cookery School, East Sussex.
