Free Cooking Recipes

Pears are often neglected in savoury cooking, but here they prove their worth in a delicious nutty stuffing.

SERVES 6
1 small ripe pear, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup/50 g/2 oz fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
25 g/1 oz chopped walnuts
generous pinch ground ginger-
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg yolk
5 cloves
1/2 lemon
1 x 1.5 kg/31/2 lb oven-ready chicken
30 m1/2 tbsp clear honey
GAMMA
1 pear, cored and sliced
15 m1/1 tbsp clear honey
Oven temperature: 200 °C/400 °F/Gas 6

Directions:

1. Mix the chopped pear with the breadcrumbs, walnuts, ginger and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the egg yolk to bind the stuffing together.
2. Push the cloves into the skin of the half lemon and place inside the chicken.
3. Press the pear stuffing into the neck cavity of the chicken and fold the remaining neck skin neatly underneath the bird, to secure the stuffing.
4. Place the chicken in a roasting dish, season with salt and pepper, and brush all over with honey. Cook in a preheated oven for 11/4— 1 1/2 hours. Baste several times during cooking, spooning the honeyed juices over the chicken.
5. To prepare the glazed pears for the garnish, gently heat together the
   pear slices and the honey in the pan, turning the pears from time to time until they become translucent.
6. To serve, carve or joint the bird and serve accompanied with some
   stuffing and a few glazed pear slices.