Sort-of-German Chicken

And here’s another German inspired recipe – I’ve taken out the carrots and added in the ricotta so it’s not wholly authentic. I’ve suggested serving this with a green salad garnished with the celery leaves to bring the whole meal together.

- 4 slices of bacon, chopped
- 1 red onion
- Salt and pepper
- 4 chicken quarters with skin still on. Get GOOD QUALITY pieces
- 4 stalks of celery (save the leaves) – chopped
- 1 chicken stock cube
- About three quarters of a bottle of red wine
- Rosemary, thyme, bay leaf
- 4 tbsps ricotta
- Loaf of sourdough or ciabatta
- Green salad
- Preheat the oven to 220°C
- Fry the bacon, celery and onion together, remove from frying pan and put into an ovenproof dish which will allow the chicken pieces to lie flat.
- Brown the chicken in the frying pan on both sides
- Pull the skin away slightly from the flesh of the chicken and stuff with the ricotta – you won’t be able to get it all in – this doesn’t matter
- Season well with pepper and less well with salt (because of the bacon)
- Pour over the red wine and crumble into it the stock cube
- Submerge the herbs into the red wine
- Roast for an hour.
Serve with lots of warm bread to soak up the delicious juices and a green salad garnished with the chopped celery leaves.