Stuffed chicken with baked onion and a morel velouté

Preparation method

1. Place each chicken breast between two sheets of cling film and pound with a meat mallet to 2cm/1in thickness. Remove the cling film and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and set aside in the fridge until required.

2. Gently fry the shallots and thyme. Add the whole chicken livers and sauté for approximately five minutes until the livers are golden brown and just cooked through. Remove from heat, then leave to cool.

3. Beat the goats’ cheese together with crème fraîche and lemon zest. Then add the egg yolk and parsley. Transfer to a food processor along with the shallot, thyme and liver mixture and pulse until roughly blended.

4. Season the mixture with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then divide between the four chicken breasts and roll each one into a sausage shape. Wrap in cling film, ensuring completely sealed. Set aside to chill for 30 minutes.

5. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and poach the chicken breasts for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside to rest.

6. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

7. For the baked onions, in a large saucepan of water, boil the whole peeled onions for approximately 15 minutes.

8. Slice the top and bottom off each onion and scoop out of the inside of the onion, taking care not to cut all the way through. You should be left with an onion bowl. Chop the reserved onion centres.

9. In a frying pan, melt the butter and gently fry the chopped onion centres with the garlic and rosemary for approximately five minutes.

10. Add enough cream to create a loose mixture and remove from the heat. Mix in the grated parmesan, lemon juice and sugar.

11. Fill the onions with the mix and wrap each onion with three slices of pancetta. Secure with a rosemary stem. Then bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes.

12. For the herb drops, blend all the ingredients apart from the oil together, then slowly add the oil while blending to create an emulsion.

13. For the velouté, bring the chicken stock to the boil in a small saucepan until the volume of liquid is reduced by half (about 20 minutes). Set aside.

14. Drain the soaked morels, reserving the liquid, then finely chop.

15. In a frying pan, heat some olive oil and gently fry the chopped shallots, thyme and garlic until browned.

16. Add the finely chopped morels and gently fry for another five minutes. Add the reserved soaking liquid and simmer until the volume of liquid is reduced by half. Add the wine, simmer further then add the reduced chicken stock.

17. Simmer until the sauce reaches a syrupy consistency, then add cream to taste. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and strain through fine sieve.

18. For the sautéed potatoes, parboil the potatoes for a minute in boiling water and drain. Fry for five minutes until golden-brown, then set aside to drain on some kitchen paper.

19. In the same frying pan, heat a knob of butter until foaming and gently fry the sliced mushrooms for two minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.

20. To serve, heat the butter in a large frying pan. Unwrap the poached chicken breasts and sauté each breast until golden-brown. Remove, trim off the ends and cut in half diagonally.

21. Place two chicken slices onto each of four deep serving plates, one upright next to one laid down on the cut edge. Next place the baked onion alongside, so you finish up with a line of the three. Pour the velouté either side.

22. Scatter the sautéed potato around the plate. Then top with slices of chestnut mushroom and micro herbs to decorate. Place herb drops between the potatoes and mushroom.

1-2 hours preparation time

1 to 2 hours cooking time

Serves 4