This is Artusi's version of boned and stuffed chicken, from my translation of his book. His is a boiled stuffed chicken that is quite nice served warm in the summer months, with the sauce he suggests (or cold, with just mayonnaise) and a crisp salad. It will also be nice nice in the winter, warm, and work well in a boiled dinner with other meats.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
- See Below
Preparation:
This is the easiest way to bone a chicken:
Cut off its neck half way down, snip off the wing tips, and the feet at the joint with the drumsticks. Don't clean the bird, but rather make a cut along the back from the height of the wings to the tail, and then, using a sharp, fine bladed knife, disarticulate the wings and pull them inside out, trimming the meat from the bones as you go. Repeat the procedure with the thighs and drumsticks, then scrape the meat from the bones of the carcass, which will come away in one piece, with the guts inside it. Leave the tiny bones of the coccyx, or, if you prefer, remove them and the wishbone.
Once you're done, remove the tendons nestled in the meat of the thighs and wings, and press the flash back in so the skin is outside.
Now that the chicken is boned, the next step is to stuff it. Assuming it's a large bird, you will need about 2/3 of a pound of veal, or proportionally less for a smaller bird. Mince the meat, then grind it in a mortar to reduce it to a fine paste, and mix it with a fist full of crumbled day-old bread (crusts removed) soaked in broth and squeezed dry, a half cup of grated Parmigiano, three egg yolks, salt, pepper, and, if you like it, a pinch of nutmeg. Finally, mix an ounce each of diced salt tongue and prosciutto into the stuffing; stuff the bird, sew it shut, wrap it in a cloth, and tie the cloth tight. Simmer the chicken for a couple of hours in boiling water to cover, then remove the cloth and sauté it till it browns in butter, and serve it with the following sauce.
Break the bones of the chicken, including the head and neck, and sauté them in butter with a minced mixture made with about a tablespoon each of pancetta, celery, and carrot, and two tablespoons of onion. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, add some of the broth in which the chicken cooked, which will be quite good, and simmer the sauce until it is done; strain it.
Artusi doesn't say how to serve it: Remove the string used to sew the cavity shut. Slice the chicken crosswise (there are no bones to get in the way) into thin slices, arrange them on a platter, spoon the sauce over them, and serve.
Yield: 6-8 (or more) servings boned stuffed chicken.
Cut off its neck half way down, snip off the wing tips, and the feet at the joint with the drumsticks. Don't clean the bird, but rather make a cut along the back from the height of the wings to the tail, and then, using a sharp, fine bladed knife, disarticulate the wings and pull them inside out, trimming the meat from the bones as you go. Repeat the procedure with the thighs and drumsticks, then scrape the meat from the bones of the carcass, which will come away in one piece, with the guts inside it. Leave the tiny bones of the coccyx, or, if you prefer, remove them and the wishbone.
Once you're done, remove the tendons nestled in the meat of the thighs and wings, and press the flash back in so the skin is outside.
Now that the chicken is boned, the next step is to stuff it. Assuming it's a large bird, you will need about 2/3 of a pound of veal, or proportionally less for a smaller bird. Mince the meat, then grind it in a mortar to reduce it to a fine paste, and mix it with a fist full of crumbled day-old bread (crusts removed) soaked in broth and squeezed dry, a half cup of grated Parmigiano, three egg yolks, salt, pepper, and, if you like it, a pinch of nutmeg. Finally, mix an ounce each of diced salt tongue and prosciutto into the stuffing; stuff the bird, sew it shut, wrap it in a cloth, and tie the cloth tight. Simmer the chicken for a couple of hours in boiling water to cover, then remove the cloth and sauté it till it browns in butter, and serve it with the following sauce.
Break the bones of the chicken, including the head and neck, and sauté them in butter with a minced mixture made with about a tablespoon each of pancetta, celery, and carrot, and two tablespoons of onion. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, add some of the broth in which the chicken cooked, which will be quite good, and simmer the sauce until it is done; strain it.
Artusi doesn't say how to serve it: Remove the string used to sew the cavity shut. Slice the chicken crosswise (there are no bones to get in the way) into thin slices, arrange them on a platter, spoon the sauce over them, and serve.
Yield: 6-8 (or more) servings boned stuffed chicken.
