Roast chicken with couscous & pine nut stuffing

Contains pork – recipe is for non-Muslims only
Delicious hot or cold and perfect for a picnic, this stuffed chicken will be a real family favourite

  • Prep:40 mins
    Cook:1 hrs 10 mins
  • Serves 8
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 348
  • fat 20g
  • saturates 7g
  • carbs 16g
  • sugars 9g
  • fibre 2g
  • protein 26.3g
  • salt 1.32g

Ingredients

  • 100g couscous
  • 175ml boiling chicken stock
  • 50g butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 100g pine nuts
  • 140g dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • large handful parsley, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp mint leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 6 skinless chicken breasts
  • 16 rashers streaky bacon

Method

  1. Put couscous in a large heatproof bowl, pour over stock, then cover with cling film for 5 mins until liquid is absorbed. Melt half the butter in a pan, then gently cook onion and garlic for 5-8 mins until soft. Set aside. Dry-fry pine nuts for a few mins until golden. Combine onions, pine nuts, apricots and herbs with couscous. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice, season, then stir in egg. Leave to cool.

  2. Using the back of a knife, stretch rashers to 1½ times their original length. Lay, slightly overlapping, on a large sheet of foil to form a rectangle. Make a few slashes in the thickest part of each chicken breast and lay between 2 sheets of cling film. Use the base of a heavy pan to bash the chicken until about 1cm thick. Arrange chicken over the bacon, fitting so there are no gaps, but leave a border on longer sides. (This helps to roll up the chicken.)

  3. Spoon stuffing over chicken in a strip along one of the longest sides. Using tin foil to help, roll bacon and chicken around stuffing like a log. Wrap tightly in foil, twisting the ends to secure, then chill for 2 hrs or up to 1 day.

  4. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Place chicken, join-side down, in a roasting tray. Cook for 30 mins, then unwrap foil and brush roast with remaining butter. Cook, uncovered, for 20-30 mins more until cooked through, and the stuffing is hot (a metal skewer inserted into the chicken’s centre should come out hot). Cool and wrap in fresh foil to transport.

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