Chicken Ballotine

Ingredienti

• 1 whole chicken – 1.5 to 1.8 kg (– 3.3 to 4 lbs)
• 150 g – 5.3 oz minced beef or veal
• 150 g – 5.3 oz Italian pork sausage (– casing removed)
• 60 g – 2 oz prosciutto (– sliced)
• 60 g – 2 oz mortadella (– sliced)
• 50 g – 1.75 oz Parmigiano Reggiano (– finely grated)
• 1 egg
• 25 ml – 0.9 oz Marsala wine (OR brandy)
• 35 g – 1.25 oz pistachios
• 15 g – 0.5 oz sandwich bread
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• Salt and pepper (– to taste)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 4 sage leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 100 ml – 3.5 oz white wine
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 40 ml – 1.4 oz water
• 2 red apples (– cored and sliced into 6 or 8 pieces)
• Extra virgin olive oil (– for brushing)
• Ground pepper and salt (– to taste)

Preparazione

1. 1

   --- Chicken and Stuffing ---

2. 2

   Soak the bread with Marsala and then mix it with all the other ingredients apart from the prosciutto and mortadella slices.

3. 3

   Keep the stuffing in the fridge while deboning the chicken.

4. 4

   Debone the chicken following the instructions in How to Debone a Chicken.Note: The chicken should look smooth and flat once deboned, as shown in the photos below.

5. 5

   Gently flatten the chicken out with a meat mallet.

6. 6

   Season with salt and pepper.

7. 7

   Put the prosciutto slices on the open chicken. Spread the stuffing evenly across the surface (make sure to spoon some filling into the thighs so they cook evenly). Layer the mortadella slices on top.

8. 8

   Close the chicken and tie it up with butcher’s twine (as shown in Jacques Pépin’s Chicken Ballotine video.

9. 9

   --- Roasting ---

10. 10

    Put the ballotine in an oven tray and rub it with the ground pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.

11. 11

    Drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil.

12. 12

    Put the garlic cloves, bay leaves, rosemary, and sage in the tray.

13. 13

    Roast in a preheated oven at 230°C – 445°F for the first 15 minutes, then add in the white wine, water, and crumbled stock cube.

14. 14

    Decrease the temperature to 200°C – 390°F and roast for 1 hour, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 74°C – 165°F (the juices should run clear when you pierce the chicken).

15. 15

    Add the sliced apples 15 to 20 minutes before the chicken is ready.

16. 16

    Let the ballotine rest for approximately 20 minutes, covered loosely in foil, before slicing and serving it with the apples and sauce.