Recipes

Roast chicken with lemon, mascarpone and thyme

Follow our classic Italian roast chicken recipe or cook along with Michelin-starred chef Theo Randall in the video below.

Roast chicken with Mascarpone, Lemon & Thyme

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 150g mascarpone
  • leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme, chopped
  • grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 slices prosciutto di Parma
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 250g Swiss chard, cut down the middle of the stem and cut into 2cm piece.
  • 250g Portobello mushrooms

Method

  1. Bone out the chicken, leaving the wing bones intact: lay the bird breast down and use a sharp knife to cut through the skin along both sides of the breastbone, then carefully ease the knife into the cuts and down around the carcass on both sides to separate it from the flesh; take care not to cut through the skin. Cut through the leg and wing joints, then remove the rib cage and backbone. Now cut the boned bird in half so you end up with two pieces each comprising a breast, leg and wing.
  2. Next bone the legs. Insert a sharp knife into the flesh, to the bone, then cut down one side of the bone and around it to free it from the flesh. 
  3. Mix together the mascarpone, thyme, lemon zest and juice, and some seasoning.
  4. Lay the chicken halves skin side down on a chopping board. Pull the breast meat back on the skin to expose a cavity. Roll a spoonful of the mascarpone mix in a slice of prosciutto, then it put into this cavity. Fold the breast fillet back down over the filling so that it is enclosed between the skin and the breast. Repeat the same process to stuff the leg. Stuff the other chicken half. There will be left over mascarpone filling, which will be used to make a sauce.
  5. Heat up a heavy-based Smeg ovenproof frying pan and add the olive oil. Season the chicken halves and place skin side down in the pan. Cook for 2 minutes until the skin is golden.
  6. Drain off any excess fat from the pan, then tuck a slice of bread under each piece of chicken. Transfer the chicken to a Pyrex dish and select the following Omnichef function. 200°C, 70% steam and 300W for 8 minutes.
  7. Blanch the Swiss chard in boiling salted water, drain. Cut one clove of garlic finely and gently fry with a tbsp of olive oil for 1 minute. Roughly chop the blanched chard and add to the garlic and olive oil.
  8. Slice the portobello mushrooms in to 1/2 cm slices, heat a large Smeg frying pan and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the cut portobello mushrooms and add a tsp of chopped thyme. Gently fry until the portobello mushrooms have become syrupy and dark. Add a squeeze of lemon and check the seasoning.
  9. Take the pan the chicken was cooked in and add a tbsp of the remaining mascarpone filling, heat up and leave to one side.
  10. To plate the chicken, cut in half and place the toasted sour dough on to a hot plate, place the cooked chard and portobello mushrooms on too then add the chicken pieces with a drizzle of the mascarpone sauce. Serve with a little chopped fresh mint on top.

Watch the video

Watch as Michelin-starred chef Theo Randall cooks a classic Italian Roast chicken using the Smeg Omnichef oven, hob, vacuum drawer and a range of Smeg cookware.

Watch the video

Products Used

CKFF2801CRM

Kitchenware, Cookware, Frypans, Cream, 50's Style , 28 cm
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