Roast Chicken With Fragrant Middle Eastern Couscous Stuffing

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Couscous loaded with bright, fresh flavours and gentle spice makes a fantastic stuffing. The stuffing can be cooked up to 24 hours in advance to keep things simple on the day you’re entertaining.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion – finely diced

  • 2 large cloves garlic  - finely diced

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

  • Pinch of chilli flakes

  • ¼ preserved lemon – finely diced

  • 1/2 cup pistachio nuts – roughly chopped

  • 75g dates – roughly chopped

  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

  • 3/4 cup couscous (quick cooking)

  • 1 cup chicken stock

  • Handful fresh parsley or coriander – roughly chopped

  • 40g butter

  • 1 George and Jo free range chicken

  • Olive oil for sautéing and prepping chicken

  • Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsuis.

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a sauté pan (ideally one with a lid) over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, moving frequently, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Stir through ground cumin and chilli flakes. After a minute add the preserved lemon, pistachios, dates, thyme and the dry couscous. Toss together. Pour over the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, place a lid on the pan and leave to sit for 5 minutes until liquid has been absorbed.

Fluff couscous with a fork and stir through the butter. Add the parsley or coriander and season generously.

Spoon couscous into the cavity of the chicken. Tie the bird’s legs together with string.

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast for approximately 80-90 minutes until the juices run clear when you pierce with fattest part of the thigh. Cover the chicken very loosely with tinfoil for the first half of the cook time to stop the breast meat drying out.

When you have removed the chicken from the oven, it can be a great idea to rest the whole chicken breast-side down for 20 minutes before serving. This allows all the juices to settle in the breast meat, preventing any dryness. It will however, effect the crispness of the cooked skin so this step is optional.