Spanish Style Chicken Galantine

This is one of those recipes that looks impressive but is actually really simple. Get your local butcher to debone a chicken for you and half the job's done!

A galantine is technique for deboning and stuffing poultry. Get your local butcher to do all the hard work and then fill the chicken with my Spanish inspired stuffing packed with chorizo, garlic, parsley and manchego cheese.

Ingredients

1 large chicken deboned (size 18) – ask your butcher to completely debone the chicken for you, just give them a bit of notice.

300g pork mince

4 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped

100g chorizo sausage, sliced

100g grated Spanish Manchego cheese

1 handful of Italian flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon of paprika

Flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper for seasoning.

Olive oil

Long metal or bamboo skewer

Butchers twine/string

Roasting tray with a rack.

Preheat oven to 160 °C (fan bake)

Start by making the stuffing. Add the pork mince, garlic, chorizo, Manchego cheese, parsley and paprika to a large bowl. Season with a pinch of flaky sea salt and ground pepper, then mix well until combined.

Next lay the deboned chicken out on a board skin side down. Season the inside generously with flaky salt & ground pepper. Take the stuffing and shape into a big sausage and place lengthways in the centre of the chicken between the two breasts, making sure the stuffing is evenly shaped and is no longer than the chicken.

Bring each side of the chicken up and over the stuffing so they meet in the centre and the stuffing is completely encased in the chicken. Where the ends meet, thread a metal (or long bamboo) skewer through the chicken, as if you were sewing it up, to hold each end in place. Then with 4 pieces of string tie up the chicken at each end and twice in the centre to help keep its shape. 

Place the chicken (skewer side down) in a roasting tray with a rack, drizzle with olive oil, season well and roast in an oven at 160 °C for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and rest for 20 minutes covered before slicing. Serve with a fresh green salad, a big bowl of creamy mash or your favourite sides.

Tip – when you ask your butcher to debone the chicken, ask him to put the carcass and bones in a separate bag and use them to make homemade chicken stock.