Chicken Filled with Pasta
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This dish is a marvellous fusion of chicken and pasta. It's an old recipe traditionally served as the main course on Christmas Day. Deboning the chicken can be complex, so you might want to ask your butcher for assistance. Sealing the chicken's cavity with rosemary sprigs adds more flavour, so don't skip this step if you have quality rosemary on hand.
Course
Main Course
Cuisine 
Ingredients
- 1 shallot roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 200 g thinly sliced sweet pancetta
- 150 ml white wine
- 200 ml tomato sauce
- 150 ml chicken broth
- 100 g fresh peas
- 120 g bucatini spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the centre
- Parsley roughly chopped
- 5 g chives finely chopped
- 50 g pecorino cheese grated
- 100 g mozzarella diced
- 1 chicken deboned; about 1.8 kg
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Some rosemary sprigs or toothpicks to seal the chicken
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- In a pan, sauté the shallot in the oil over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until softened.
- Slice half the pancetta into matchsticks and add to the pan.
- Increase the heat and fry until the pancetta crisps up (be careful not to burn the shallot). Pour in the wine and let it evaporate, then add the tomato sauce and chicken broth.
- Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add the peas and cook for a few more minutes before turning off the heat.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the bucatini and cook it for half the time recommended on the package. Drain the pasta and mix it into the sauce, then stir in the parsley, chives, and pecorino cheese.
- Remove from heat and let it cool down quickly to halt cooking, then spread the pasta and its sauce on a tray. Once cooled, mix in the mozzarella.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper, place it in a bowl, and stuff with the pasta and sauce. Seal the chicken's top end using rosemary sprigs or toothpicks, then take it out of the bowl and tie the legs and wings with kitchen twine.
- Wrap the entire chicken in the remaining pancetta slices.
- Roast the chicken in the oven for 30-40 minutes, then increase the temperature to 200°C and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes until it's crisp and the juices run clear when a toothpick is inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes (uncovered) before slicing and serving.