ROAST TUSCAN CHICKEN WITH CORN AND SAGE STUFFING

Preparation time 30 mins Cooking time 1 hour 40 mins Serves 4

1.8kg whole chicken

2 brown onions, sliced into thick rings 4 stalks celery

200ml verjuice, white wine or water 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil Rosemary sprigs, to serve

STUFFING

300g sliced sourdough bread

1 clove garlic, halved, plus extra

4 cloves, diced

1/3 cup water

3 tsp chicken stock powder 300g corn kernels (fresh or frozen) 50g unsalted butter

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 brown onion, diced

1/2 bunch sage, leaves picked and

chopped

4 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked

and chopped

60g finely grated parmesan 1 free-range egg

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves

picked and torn

Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground

black pepper, to season

GRAVY

80g unsalted butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 sprig rosemary 150ml white wine or water 250-400ml chicken stock White pepper, to season

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced (220°C conventional). STEP 2 To make stuffing, arrange bread on an oven tray and cook for 5 minutes, until toasted. Rub toast with halved clove of garlic. Tear bread into chunks and set aside.

STEP 3 Meanwhile, put water and chicken stock powder in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add corn and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, pour into blender and blitz until smooth.

STEP 4 In a frying pan, melt butter and oil over medium heat. Add extra garlic and onion and fry for about 3 minutes, until golden. Add sage and rosemary and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir through corn puree and transfer to a bowl. Set aside to cool. Add parmesan, egg, mustard, parsley and bread chunks, and stir to combine. Season.

STEP 5 Pat chicken dry using paper towel. Fill cavity with stuffing, pushing in as much as possible. Put leftover stuffing on an oven tray lined with baking paper and set aside.

STEP 6 Arrange onion rings and celery in base of a flameproof roasting pan (these will act as a trivet and add flavour to the gravy). Lay chicken on top of the veg and pour verjuice, wine or water over the top. Rub chicken skin with oil. Season and cover with foil lined with baking paper.

STEP 7 Roast for 30 minutes, reduce temperature to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional), then uncover and roast for another 1 hour. Add tray of stuffing in last 30 minutes of cooking. Remove and set aside for 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and tip all veg and pan juices into a strainer over a bowl and press to extract juices. Reserve juices. Discard veg or reserve for serving. (Don’t wash pan, as this is where you get extra flavour for gravy).

STEP 8 To make gravy, put roasting pan back over medium heat and melt butter. Stir through flour and use a wooden spoon to stir and scrape caramelised bits off base. Add rosemary and wine or water and bring to a simmer. Add reserved pan juices. Use chicken stock to top up the volume (about 600ml of gravy). Simmer over low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes, then season with white pepper and strain into a jug.

STEP 9 Garnish chicken with rosemary and serve with reserved veg (if using), gravy and extra stuffing.