Roast chicken with sausage stuffing

  • Portion size: Serves 6
  • Hands-on 35 min, oven 60 min, plus 15 min resting
  • Difficulty: easy

Made using red peppers, parsley and dill, the stuffing in this chicken makes for a brilliantly fresh take on a classic sausagemeat stuffing. There’s ciabatta in there too, making the dish substantial enough to serve alongside a simple salad for the perfect summer supper.

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Ingredients

  • 
2 tbsp olive oil
  • 400g sausages, skins removed
  • 
1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 
1 celery stick, finely chopped
  • 
2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 
2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 
2 red peppers, cut into 1cm pieces
  • 
2 bunches fresh dill, 1 chopped
  • a bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
  • 
1 large lemon, zest finely 
grated, fruit halved
  • 
300g ciabatta, torn into 1cm pieces
  • 1.8kg free-range chicken
  • 30g unsalted butter, softened

You’ll also need… 

  • a 1 litre baking dish
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Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the sausagemeat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until golden (about 10 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl with a slotted spoon.
  2. Add the remaining oil to the pan and fry the carrot, celery and shallots with a pinch of salt for 5-6 minutes until softening. Add the garlic and peppers, then cook for 2 minutes. Mix into the meat with the chopped dill, parsley and lemon zest. Season. Transfer three quarters of the stuffing to a 1 litre baking dish and mix with three quarters of the bread.
  3. Whizz the rest of the bread in a food processor to form crumbs. Mix into the remaining stuffing mixture, then stuff into the neck cavity of the chicken. Rub the butter over the skin, season well, then put the lemon and remaining dill inside the cavity.
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  5. Put the stuffing dish in the bottom of the oven and put the chicken directly on the rack above, so the juices drip into the stuffing. Roast for 1 hour 15-20 minutes until the juices run clean when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a skewer.
  6. Loosely cover the stuffing and chicken with foil and rest for 
15 minutes, then joint to serve.

Nutrition

  • 651kcals Calories
  • 31.4g fat (11g saturated) Fat
  • 60.1g protein Protein
  • 30g carbs (5.8g sugars) Carbs
  • 4.3g fibre Fibre
  • 1.7g salt Salt

Quick wins & tips

If you want to try something different next time, stuff 6 chicken thighs with the stuffing instead. Cook as in step 4, reducing the cooking time to 35-40 minutes.

Make Ahead

Make the stuffing up to 
12 hours in advance and keep covered in the fridge.

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