Sage and onion stuffed chicken breast with sweet potato rosti and mushroom white wine cream

Ben Pearce is head chef and runs The Bull Blackmore End with his wife, Donna. ‘It was closed for three years and almost turned into a residential development, but we reopened in November 2013 and we love it here,’ says Ben. ‘It’s a classic old village pub with an open fire and some modern touches. We try to hit a balance between pub and restaurant.’ Here Ben shares his recipe for stuffed chicken breast.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts

1 clove of garlic

25 sage leaves

3 medium onions (1 finely chopped)

200g of breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 sweet potato

2 sprig of rosemary

2 sprig of thyme

1 tbsp of plain flour

1 egg

100gm of button mushrooms

1 shallot (finely diced)

50ml of white wine

50ml of double cream

100ml of rapeseed oil

Method

In a food processor add the sage leaves, 2 whole onions cut into chunks, garlic, 1 egg, breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blitz together till a paste is formed. The mix should hold itself but still be quite moist.

Make an incision into the top of the breast at the thickest part and work a small pocket into the flesh. If you cut too close to the edge then when you stuff the breast it will split the flesh. Pour the stuffing mix into a piping bag and squeeze the mix into the breast and use a cocktail stick to close the hole. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in fridge until needed.

Peel and grate the sweet potatoes. Add the rosemary and thyme sprigs along with the flour and egg and mix together to form rostis. Season and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Then shape into discs of around 7cm diameter and 1 cm thick. You’ll need two for a portion.

Season the chicken breast and heat up a pan of oil. Sear the chicken and transfer into the oven. Cook the chicken breast at 180c for 15 minutes.

In a separate pan heat up some more oil and add your rostis to it and cook till golden brown on both sides, flipping once.

Once cooked through, remove chicken from the oven and leave to rest on separate dishes under foil. Return the pan to the heat and sweat off the diced onion. Add the button mushrooms and sauté until soft, add your white wine and reduce by half, then add the cream and reduce until thick.

Serve the chicken, sliced in half so you can see the stuffing, on top of the rostis and spoon over some of the cream. Serve with your favourite seasonal vegetables.

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The Bull

Blackmore End

Braintree

CM74DD

01371 851740