As the holiday season approaches we turn our attention towards the comforting roasts and braises this time of year is known for. This recipe is simple to put together and can be rolled and wrapped two days in advance to save you the trouble of preparing them on the day of serving. For an even quicker version, feel free to replace the farce with your favourite sausage meat.
INGREDIENTS
Roulade
2 whole chicken legs
200g pork mince
8 dried prunes
8 walnuts
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
1 lemon's worth of zest
Gravy
200ml red wine
50g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 garlic clove
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
Roasting juices
Serves 2-4 people
METHOD
1. Begin by deboning the chicken leg or asking your butcher to do it for you, ensure that as you remove the bone you keep the skin as intact as possible.
2. For the farce, dice the prunes and walnuts into small pieces and place into a mixing bowl with the pork mince, chopped chives, lemon zest and the leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme. Season generously with salt and mix to combine. As an alternative to the stuffing feel free to use your favourite sausages by removing their casings.
3. Lay your chicken legs out flat, skin side down, over a large length of cling film and season each side of the chicken well with salt. Divide your farce evenly between the two legs and form into a sausage-like shape along the centre of the chicken meat. Roll your chicken around the farce and ensure that as much of the skin covers the meat as possible. Lay a sprig of rosemary and a crushed clove of garlic on top of the roulade. This will infuse the roulade with flavour from the aromatics as it cooks.
4. Roll up each roulade well in cling film and secure each end by tying a knot as close to the meat as possible. Wrap the entire package in aluminum foil and place into an oven preheated to 200°c for 30 minutes.
5. Once cooking time is up, carefully remove the foil and cling film from the roulade and collect the cooking juices into a mixing bowl. Dry the surface of the roulade well using paper towel and preheat a saute pan over medium high heat.
6. Once the pan is hot, add a generous splash of neutral cooking oil and cook the roulades for a minute on each side, rotating after each minute to get an even golden brown surface across the meat. Once well browned, remove from the pan and allow to rest. Alternatively if you are entertaining guests and cooking multiple roulades, place each of them uncovered onto a lined baking tray with ample space between them and place in an oven set to 220°c until golden brown.
7. Deglaze the pan with red wine and add the garlic, thyme and sugar to allow their flavour to infuse while the wine reduces. Once the wine is almost completely reduced, add the reserved cooking juices to the pan and reduce by half. Add the cold butter and swirl the pan until the butter has emulsified with the reduction. Reduce further to your desired consistency.
8. Slice the roulades and serve immediately with the red wine sauce.
This recipe is taken from our Festive Roast workshop. Click here to see what workshops we have available currently.