CookEat Recipe
Roast Chicken with Chestnut and Sausage Stuffing
A family roast chicken filled with a fine mixture of sausage, chicken giblets, roasted chestnuts, bread and egg, with slices of truffle.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 1 professionally dressed farmed chicken, about 1.4 kg, with head, neck and feet removed; 2 fresh plain pork sausages, about 200 g total; The chicken liver, comb and 2 wattles, professionally cleaned and sold as edible food-grade parts; 9 roasted chestnuts, peeled and with the inner skins removed; 20 g fresh black truffle, cleaned and thinly sliced; A small pinch ground nutmeg; 1 egg; 25 g butter; 20 g soft fresh bread crumb; About 150 ml ready-to-use broth, used as needed; A little salt and black pepper; Water for simmering the comb and wattles.
Step 2
If starting with raw chestnuts, score the shells of nine sound chestnuts, roast at about 200°C for 20–30 minutes and remove both shell and inner skin while warm enough to peel. Keep only sound edible kernels. Simmer the professionally cleaned comb and wattles in a little water for about 45–60 minutes until tender, then drain. Keep the raw chicken refrigerated at 4°C or colder and do not rinse it.
Step 3
Gently cook the sausages and prepared comb and wattles in the butter, adding spoonfuls of broth as needed. Add the liver for the last 5–8 minutes. Check the sausages and all giblets are cooked through to at least 74°C; this modern method fully cooks them before stuffing. Drain them, keeping the pan juices. Remove the sausage casings and finely chop the giblets.
Step 4
Put the bread crumb into the pan juices and cook to about two tablespoons of firm paste, adding a little broth only if necessary. Let the cooked components cool briefly until no longer hot. Pound the sausages, chopped giblets, roasted chestnuts, bread paste, egg and nutmeg together in a mortar until very fine and cohesive. Season sparingly because the sausages are already seasoned. Fold in the raw truffle slices without pounding them.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spoon the mixture loosely into the chicken just before roasting and close the opening with food-safe kitchen string. If some filling does not fit loosely, put it in a small covered ovenproof dish and cook it alongside. Roast the chicken in a snug roasting dish for about 1½–2 hours, basting with its own juices and covering loosely with foil if it browns too quickly. Check at least 82°C in the thickest bird meat and 74°C at the centre of the stuffing and any separate filling.
Step 6
Rest for about 10 minutes, remove all stitches and ties, take out the stuffing and carve the bird. For the cold serving preferred for clean stuffing slices, divide the cooked meat and stuffing into separate shallow containers and refrigerate within two hours. Chill thoroughly, then slice the cold filling and serve with the chilled chicken. Use within 2–3 days; the listed duration covers preparation and hot serving, so allow at least three additional hours for chilling.
Step 7
If truffles are unavailable, omit them and soak 5 g food-grade dried mushrooms in warm water for about 20–30 minutes. Drain, discard the soaking water and chop the mushrooms finely. Cook them with the sausages and giblets, then pound them into the filling with the other components instead of adding truffle slices at the end.
Step 8
For a small turkey of about 2.8 kg, double all the filling quantities: four sausages about 400 g, a double portion of the same professionally prepared chicken giblets, 18 roasted chestnuts, 40 g truffle or 10 g dried mushrooms, two eggs, 50 g butter, 40 g bread and up to 300 ml broth, with nutmeg and seasonings to taste. Stuff loosely just before roasting at 180°C, cook any excess separately and allow about 2½–3½ hours, checking 82°C in the bird and 74°C throughout the filling. Remove the stuffing, carve and follow the same separate chilling method if serving cold. This larger version serves about eight and needs longer than the main recipe.
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