Chicken Ballotine Recipe with Sage and Onion Stuffing
Chicken breast ballotine filled with sage and onion stuffing is a lightened-up take on an old-school British roast chicken dinner and comes with a gloriously simple bacon and chicken gravy.
Servings 2 Servings
Calories 926kcal
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 Small Chicken Breasts
- 1 Small Onion 100g
- 50 g Dried Breadcrumbs ⅓ Cup
- 50 g Butter 3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
- ½ tablespoon Dried Sage
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
For the Gravy:
- 375 ml Chicken Stock 1½ Cups
- 1 Large Onion 200g
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cornflour (cornstarch in the US)
- 1 teaspoon Marmite
- 100 g Bacon Lardons 3½oz
Instructions
- Peel the onion for the gravy and cut it into a 1.5cm (just over ½") dice.
- Bash the garlic cloves with the side of a knife; don't bother peeling them.
- Heat a 28cm or 11" reactive (not non-stick) frying pan over a low-medium heat, and when it is hot, add the oil for the gravy followed by the diced onion and garlic cloves. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring every 5-7 minutes.
- Melt the butter for the stuffing and pour it into a mixing bowl with the breadcrumbs.
- Peel the onion for the stuffing and grate it on the coarse side of a box grater and add it to the breadcrumbs and butter, followed by the sage, salt and pepper, then mix well and set aside.
- Butterfly the chicken breasts by cutting them in half along the length without going all of the way through, then open them up like a book. Sandwich each chicken breast between two pieces of cling film, then flatten them with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they are around 10-12mm (½") thick.
- Take another piece of cling film and lay it on your work surface, and add the chicken breast, presentation side down. Take half of the stuffing mix, form a sausage, lay it into the middle of the chicken, and then roll the chicken around the stuffing.
- Wrap the cling film around your "sausage" of chicken, and then seal the edges like a Christmas cracker, taking care to remove any air, then roll to tighten. Then repeat with the other piece of chicken.
- Bring a medium (20cm or 8") saucepan of water to a gentle bubble, and add the chicken parcels and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Whilst the chicken is cooking, pour the chicken stock into the onions and garlic and turn the heat up to medium, and cook until reduced by half (this will take around 10-15 minutes), then mix the cornflour with 1 tablespoon of water, stir it through the stock until it begins to thicken, then set aside.
- Heat a medium (24cm or 10") frying pan over a medium heat and add the bacon lardons after the chicken parcels have been poaching for 5 minutes, and gently cook until it renders out some fat, which will take around 10 minutes. If they start to burn, reduce the heat.
- Remove the chicken parcels from the boiling water and cut off the cling film, then dry them on some kitchen paper.
- Turn the heat up under the bacon to medium-high and add the chicken parcels and cook on all sides to get a nice colour, this will take 3-4 minutes.
- Stir the marmite through the gravy, then strain it into the frying pan with the chicken breast and reheat for 60 seconds.
- Finally, remove the chicken and slice it to your liking. I trim the top and bottom so that it will stand up, then cut it in half at an angle.
The best method is to hold the ends, and roll forwards, lift it from the work surface, bring it back to you and roll again, repeating until you have a nice tight chicken package.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 926kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 66g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 28g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 211mg | Sodium: 2235mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g
