September 2023 - Jason's Zero-Waste Tuscan style Ribollita with Roast Chicken

Serves 4 / Contains Cheese

Ingredients

1 x Small Whole Chicken

1 x Shallot

1 x Whole Celery

1 x Large Carrot

1 x Garlic Bulb

1 x Red Chilli

1 x sprig Rosemary

2 x tblspn Olive Oil plus more for dressing

2 x Red Onions

250g x Cavolo Nero

1 x 400g tin chopped San Marzano Tomatoes

1 x piece Parmesan rind, any remaining cheese finely grated and reserved

1 x jar Bold Bean Co. Organic White Beans

1 x sprig Basil, small leaves picked and reserved

2 x slices 5-7 day old chopped sourdough bread

Red wine vinegar

Water, salt and pepper

Method

1. Take the chicken breasts and legs off the carcass of the chicken, trim the bones for presentation, then cover the breasts and legs in a container and refrigerate for later. (A good butcher can do this for you if you aren’t confident enough with a sharp knife)

2. Chop the remaining bones and put in a stock pan with the trimmings and peelings from the celery and carrot, chop the shallot and a quarter of the garlic bulb, add to the stock pan and bring to the boil. Then simmer 45 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, Chop the carrots, red onions and celery.

4. Strain the stock and keep to the side, discard the bones and veg trimmings and rinse the stock pan.

5. Heat the olive oil in the cleaned stock pan and add the carrots, red onions and celery. Cook on a low heat until softened, but don’t brown.

6. While the hard veg is softening, peel and chop half of the remaining garlic and thinly slice the chilli. Prepare the Cavolo Nero by trimming the stalks and cutting into 5-7cm pieces.

7. Add the garlic and chilli to the softened veg, and cook for a further couple of minutes, before adding the whole sprig of rosemary, tin of tomatoes and enough stock to generously cover the veg, then bring to a simmer.

8. Preheat the oven to 200°C

9. Remove the chicken from the fridge, dress the skin with salt, pepper and olive oil, then Heat an ovenproof sauté pan. Add the chicken breasts and legs, presentation side down first and cook until the skin is browning and crisping up, before turning over and sealing the non-presentation side, then roast in the oven for 20-25minutes.

10. Meanwhile, chop the Parmesan rind into small cubes, then add to the veg ribollita pan with the Cavolo Nero and the entire contents of the Bold Bean Co jar, put a lid on the pan and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

11. Remove the chicken from the oven and check it’s cooked through. Rest the meat on a chopping board next to the oven for a few minutes.

12. Add the chopped bread to the ribollita in the stock pan and stir through. Simmer for a further couple of minutes, adding more stock if necessary for a stew like consistency, then season with salt, pepper and a dash of red wine vinegar to your taste.

13. Put a generous ladle of Ribollita in four warmed large pasta bowls, put a piece of the roasted chicken on the top of each mound of ribollita, sprinkle the reserved finely grated Parmesan over the ribollita, scatter the baby basil leaves over the dish and dress with a glug of olive oil.

14. Serve and enjoy!