I don’t generally buy stuffing mix as it’s really easy to make yourself. The only time that I do use it is as a crumb coating for chicken portions, but that’s for another day. Today is all about getting stuffed!
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
225g Pork stuffing meat
4tbs dried Breadcrumbs
1tbs dried Sage
2tbs boiling water
1 whole chicken
1. Oven to 190˚C/170C ˚fan.
2. In a medium sized bowl, add all of the above ingredients and thoroughly mix together with your hand (or for those of a squeamish nature, you can use a spatula).
3. Use the mixture to stuff your chicken cavity.
4. Weigh your stuffed chicken and cook for 25 minutes per 500g plus an additional 25 minutes.
5. To check if your chicken is cooked through, pierce the thickest part (generally where the leg joins the body. If the juices run clear, then your chicken is cooked. If there is still some colour to the juices, cook for another 25 minutes and check again.
6. Allow the chicken to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
7. Serve with gravy made from the meat juices.
*The pork stuffing meat I’ve used here is the type that you get in a long plastic tube, sealed at each end with a metal clip, usually about 450g in weight. Alternatively you can use ready made sausages which are your favourite and omit the Sage.