A flavorful, comforting dish featuring tender roasted chicken stuffed with leeks.

Equipment Required

• Large rimmed baking sheet
• Kitchen string
• Large oven-proof skillet

Ingredients

• 2 cups cubed whole-wheat country bread (1/4-inch pieces)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 4 cups sliced leeks (about 3 medium)
• 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper, divided
• ¼ cup dry vermouth plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups shelled pistachio nuts 
• ½ cup chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, sage and thyme
• 2 kg whole chicken, deboned (ask your butcher to do this for you)
• 10 rashes streaky bacon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Place bread cubes on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and toasted, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Increase oven temperature to 160 degrees C
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon each oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the foaming subsides, add leeks, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as necessary, until light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup vermouth and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add cream and cook until slightly thickened, about 1 minute more. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the bread. Add pistachios and herbs and stir to coat.
3. Place the chicken on a work surface, skin-side down and legs facing downward. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Using a small spoon or your fingers, stuff the leg cavities with as much of the bread mixture as will fit. Spread the remaining bread mixture over the surface of the breast meat. Working from the long side of the breast, fold the chicken tightly into the middle. Repeat with the other side, so that it overlaps the other half slightly. Roll and flip the chicken so that the seam is face down and the skin is face up.
4. Place layers of streaky bacon slightly overlapping longways, covering the skin of the breast.
5. Starting at the top of the breast, truss the bird, making slipknots by looping kitchen string around and under the chicken repeatedly, at approximately 2.5 cm intervals. When you reach the bottom, turn the chicken over and thread the twine over and under each of the horizontal strings created during the first step of trussing. Tie the 2 ends of the string together, pulling to tighten and secure. Tuck in any stuffing that has fallen out. Season the outside of the chicken with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
6. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan, seam-side up. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Position the chicken seam-side down and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the stuffing registers 65 degrees C, 40 to 45 minutes.
7. Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, skim fat from the pan drippings. Place the pan over medium heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons vermouth and cook, scraping up the browned bits, until the liquid has nearly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and swirl the pan until it’s melted.
8. Remove string from the chicken and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Serve drizzled with the pan sauce.

Recipe Source

We based this recipe of Nora Singley; a food stylist and recipe developer with a keen eye for detail, honed by her six years working for Martha Stewart. She has styled food for movies, commercials, cookbooks and magazines, and was culinary producer for five seasons of Moveable Feast on PBS.

The changes we made to this recipe are adding streaky bacon on breasts of the chicken , and we changed the chestnuts to pistachios.