So by some miracle I am still in the Freshly Blogged competition. There are 20 bloggers left, and the competition is getting tough. This week we were given rice, butternut, leeks, thyme, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a baguette. We could add one dairy item (I chose Feta) as well as one other item from the aisles of PnP (in my case, a whole chicken).
There is something about the smell of a chicken roasting on a Sunday morning that makes you feel like you are sitting in your mom’s house, waiting to share in a mouthwatering feast.
This crispy-skinned, yet incredibly moist, chicken is stuffed full of a thyme-infused butternut, leek, feta and rice stuffing. Served with gravy that tastes like happiness, and a herb-butter baguette, this meal is perfect for a lazy Sunday lunch.
- 1 large butternut, peeled and sliced thickly
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup Spekko long grain rice
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 leek, finely diced
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 50g feta, cubed
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 1.3kg whole free range chicken
- Olive oil
- 10 sprigs of thyme
- Salt and pepper
- Butternut stuffing
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 4 leeks, cut into 3 pieces each
- Juices and leeks from the cooked chicken
- ½ can PnP chopped tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 2 Tbsp cold water
- 1 small french bread (baguette)
- 75g butter, softened
- 1 tsp thyme leaves
- salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
- Place the butternut on a tray. Coat lightly with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 30 to 45 minutes until the butternut is soft.
- Remove and mash roughly with a fork.
- Add the rice and chicken stock to a pot, and bring to the boil.
- Turn down to a medium high heat, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Drain, and leave to cool before adding to the butternut.
- Saute the chopped leek with the butter for a minute.
- Add to the butternut and rice mixture, along with the feta and leaves from the thyme.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
- Wash and pat dry the chicken.
- Fill the cavity of the chicken with the butternut stuffing mixture.
- Tie the legs of the chicken together.
- Place the chicken in a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with thyme leaves and salt and pepper.
- Add 2 cups of chicken stock to the roasting tray, along with the leeks.
- Cover the roasting tray with foil. Place in oven to cook for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, remove the foil, and turn the oven up to 200 degrees celcius.
- Cook the chicken for a further 30 to 45 minutes until the skin is crispy, and the juices from a cut in the thigh run clear.
- Remove the chicken from the roasting tray, and place on a board to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.
- Use the juices and leeks left in the roasting tray to make the gravy.
- Add the juices and leeks from the roasting tray to a large frying pan on a medium high heat. Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil. Cook for 10 minutes, before straining through a sieve into a bowl.
- Remove as much fat from the strained liquid as possible. Add back to the frying pan. Mix flour with cold water in a cup, slowly add to the gravy to thicken it up.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
- Mix the butter, thyme leaves, salt and pepper together.
- Cut 1.5cm slices into the baguette, being careful to only cut ¾ of the way through.
- Add butter to each section of the baguette. Wrap it in foil and cook for 15 minutes.
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It looks fantastic!
Thanks Tandy!
Your pictures are amamzing (the recipe too) FB does not do them justice
Thanks Hila!