Recipe: Ballotine of Chicken with Bunya Nut & Pancetta Stuffing
Ballotine of Chicken with Bunya Nut & Pancetta Stuffing, White Sweet Potato & Lilly Pilly Chutney
Serves 4
Note: Skin-on Chicken Marylands can be difficult to source from a supermarket I got free range Moya Valley ones from Eumundi Meats at Belmondos with a couple of days notice.
Ingredients
- 4 skin-on Chicken Mary lands, deboned
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 100gm pancetta
- 500gm whole bunya nuts
- 150gm fresh sourdough crumbs
- 2 eggs
- 400gm white sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 250ml milk
- 2tbs butter
- 75mlcream
- salt and white pepper
- 300gm Lilly Pillies
- 100grn raw sugar
- 50ml white wine vinegar
- 2 green apples, peeled and grated
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 lemon myrtle leaves
- 200 gm of spinach
Method
Prepare Bunya Nuts as per previous instructions and roughly chop the nuts.
Saute the onion, garlic and pancetta until soft and lightly coloured. Mix with the sourdough crumbs, chopped bunya nuts and eggs and season with salt and pepper. Take a handful of the stuffing and push it into the drumstick cavity and thigh, and squeeze the sides together to reshape it into a Maryland shape. Secure with a wooden skewer. Repeat with the rest of the chicken and stuffing. Refrigerate until required.
Simmer the sweet potato in milk until soft. Drain and blend in a food processor to a fine puree. Heat the cream and butter and add to the sweet potato. Season with salt and white pepper.
Place the Lilly Pillies, raw sugar, vinegar, apple, onions and lemon myrtle in a saucepan and simmer until the Lilly Pillies have become translucent. Cool.
Season and fry the ballotines in a hot pan until well coloured all over, transfer to a roasting tray and roast in a 180°C oven for 25 – 30 minutes.
Sear the spinach in a hot pan and season with salt and pepper.
Slice each ballotine into 5 slices and serve with the sweet potato puree, seared spinach and Lilly Pilly chutney.
