Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
- A chicken weighing 3 1/2-4 pounds (1.5-1.7 k), with its giblets
- 10 walnut meats, blanched and chopped
- An egg
- 4 white cabbage leaves, shredded
- 2 leaves sage
- 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano
- 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
- 2 ounces (60 g) pancetta, diced
- A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
- An onion
- 2 celery ribs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A needle and fine twine
Preparation:
Wash the chicken and flame it to remove any stray pinfeathers it might have, and while doing this put a pot of water large enough to contain the chicken to boil with the celery and onion.Empty the gizzard. Wash, pat dry, and mince the giblets. Combine them in a bowl with the cabbage leaves, sage, garlic, cheese, pancetta, breadcrumbs, egg, nutmeg, and walnuts. Mix well and season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
Fill the cavity of the chicken with the stuffing and sew it shut with the twine (don't forget to sew shut the neck opening). Salt the water, which should be boiling by now, and immerge the chicken. As soon as the water comes back to a boil reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the chicken, partially covered, for about 2 hours. Come serving time carefully cut up the chicken into 8 pieces, without breaking up the stuffing. Arrange the pieces on a heated platter, slice the stuffing into half-inch thick (1 cm) slices, and serve. The broth will be quite nice for making a risotto, or for serving with meat based pasta, for example tortellini, though if I served it in a soup I might add a clove to it when I added immersed the chicken.
The wine? I'd go with a red, possibly a Valcalepio from the hills behind Bergamo.
