Stuffed Pot-Roast Chicken with Pine Nuts & Pomegranate Molasses

Nigel Barden
1 day ago
3 min read

by Allegra McEvedy from Bought, Borrowed & Stolen: Recipes & Knives from a Travelling Chef (Conran Octopus)

Photography: Andrew Montgomery

Pomegranate molasses is locally referred to as ‘the balsamic of the Middle East’ and this claim is not as aspirational as it sounds. Same syrupy dark appearance and similar sweetness, but the molasses has an added tangy fruitiness where the vinegar is just slightly sharp. It’s also the backbone taste to this dish – a very old Lebanese recipe with a new attitude to stuffing your bird.

Serves 4-6, and takes 30 minutes to get it ready, then 1 hour on the hob

Ingredients

Around 100ml/3fl oz extra virgin olive oil

70g/3oz bulgur wheat

1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

50g/2oz pine nuts

1tsp ground cumin or whole cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 onions, cut into wedges

1 small butternut squash, peeled, the top part sliced in half lengthwise then into 2cm/¾ in thick semi-circles, and the bulbous bottom cut into 5cm/ 2 in chunks

2 bay leaves

A few sprigs of thyme leaves or a big pinch of dried thyme

300g/10oz beef mince

Zest of 1 lemon

Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 free-range chicken (weighing about 1.75kg/3½lb)

About 500ml17fl oz hot chicken stock, or more as needed

125ml/4fl oz pomegranate molasses

Salt and pepper

Method

Wipe out the pan, put it back on a low-medium heat and pour in a healthy shot of olive oil. Tip the onions in and cook with a lid on for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Turn up the heat and mix the squash into the onions, along with the bay leaves, thyme and some seasoning. Put a lid on and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring, until the onions start to caramelise and the squash softens.

Meanwhile, in a big bowl, mix the cooked bulgur with the beef mince, lemon zest, parsley and some seasoning. Stuff the chicken, closing the open end by folding over the flappy bits and securing with a couple of cocktail sticks (if you can’t get all the stuffing in the bird, roll it into balls, drizzle with oil and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes for a good cook’s snack).

When the vegetables are on the way to being cooked, tip them into the ex-stuffing mixing bowl. For the second time wipe the pan out and put it back on to get good and hot with a splash of olive oil, then brown the chicken, breast side down, one side at a time. Once both sides of the breasts are appealingly browned, turn it over and fry it for a minute more.

Take out the chicken and put half the vegetables back into the pan. Nestle the chicken in the veg, breast-side up, and spoon the rest of the veg around it. Pour in the chicken stock so that it comes ¾ of the way up the sides of the chicken, then drizzle the pomegranate molasses all over the bird and into the surrounding stock. Put a lid on, turn the heat down to low-medium and cook, bubbling gently, for about an hour – just push a thin knife into the thigh and make sure the tip of it is hot when it comes out. When it’s done, leave it to rest for 10 minutes, and then serve with rice.

Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish: