Stuffed Roast Chicken with Carrots and Parsnips

Stuffed Roast Chicken with Carrots and Parsnips
© Marco Riebler

Stuffed Roast Chicken with Carrots and Parsnips

Gerhard Fuchs has been cooking at the restaurant Die Weinbank in Austria's southern Styria region since 2014. Fuchs cooks regional, seasonal and creative food with lots of flavour. Here he cooks a supreme dish for poultry lovers.

For the chicken

Ingredients (4 servings)
1 medium chicken
1 onion, quartered
6 garlic cloves
1 apple, quartered
1 teaspoon(s) coriander seeds
1 twigs tarragon
50 g butter

For the stuffing

Ingredients (4 servings)
200 g brioche or white bread, crust removed, cut into 0.5cm cubes
2 shallots, finely diced
100 g butter
3 tablespoon(s) whipping cream
2 eggs, beaten
salt
1 handful seasonal herbs (such as parsley, thyme, chives), chopped
pepper
1 pinch(es) freshly grated nutmeg

For the roasted vegetables

Ingredients (4 servings)
150 g carrots, parsnips and parsley roots, peeled and cut into pieces
10–12 handful garlic
12 shallots
200 ml chicken stock

Ingredients (4 servings)

Preparation:

  • For the stuffing, melt the butter in a pan, add the shallots and gently cook until translucent. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then set aside to cool.  
  • Put the brioche cubes in a bowl, pour over the cream, add the eggs and herbs, mix well and set aside for 1 hour covered with cling film to let the flavours meld.
  • Carefully pull the skin away from the breasts of the chicken and press the stuffing over the flesh, beneath the skin, being careful not to tear the skin. Secure the opening with a toothpick on both sides. Season all over with salt and pepper.
  • Fill the cavity of the chicken with the onion, garlic, apple, coriander and tarragon. Close the opening with a toothpick or a skewer.
  • Preheat the oven to 160°C.
  • Melt the butter in a roasting tin and place the chicken in it breast-side up. Cover the breast with buttered baking paper. Scatter in the garlic cloves and transfer the tin to the oven and cook, basting occasionally with the butter and juices from the tin. 
  • After about 30 minutes, add the shallots and vegetables to the tin. Roast for a further hour or so, until the juices run clear when the you pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer.
  • Remove the butter paper from the breast shortly before the end of the cooking time. Remove the chicken from the roasting tin to a plate and keep warm.
  • To make the sauce, add the chicken stock to the roasting tin with the vegetables. Transfer to the hob and simmer until the sauce has reduced to your liking. Pour any juices from the chicken as it rests or during carving through a sieve and add to the sauce.
  • Carve the chicken and serve with the vegetables and sauce.
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