Chicken Recipes

* 1 1/2 cups small dried pasta (pennete or ditali)
* 12 scallions, white part only — thinly sliced
* 12 pistachio nuts — shelled
* 3 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs — finely chopped
* (parsley,basil,sage or oregano)
* 5 canned Italian plum tomatoes, drained — pulped
* 1 thick slice bacon — cut in small pieces
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
* 3 1/2 tablespoons butter — softened
* 1 2-3 pound chicken (or 2 Cornish hens)
* 1 slice bread
* 4 extra bacon slices

Cook pasta until three-quarters done then drain.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl combine scallions, nuts, herbs, tomatoes, diced bacon, salt and pepper with the pasta. Using half the butter, grease the inside of the chicken, and fill it with the pasta stuffing. Place a slice of bread inside the opening to keep the stuffing in, and truss the bird. (If using Cornish hens, divide the ingredients between them.)
Rub the chicken over with the remaining butter and place it on its side on a rack in a baking dish. Sprinkle the body with a little ground black pepper and cover it with the extra bacon slices. Roast for 20 minutes.
Turn the bird over onto its other side, sprinkle over a little more ground black pepper, cover with the bacon and put back into the oven for a further 20 minutes.
Remove bacon, turn the bird onto its back and roast again, basting often with the juices in the dish. After 20 minutes test to see if the chicken is cooked. If a skewer pushed into the thick flesh of a thigh produces liquid with a red tinge, roast the bird another 5 minutes and test again. When the juices come clear the chicken is done. Rest it for a couple of minutes in a warm place before carving.
Author’s note: This chicken is excellent served cold on a picnic. The flesh remains moist and succulent and the stuffing becomes a side salad.
The bacon which didn’t burn during the roasting can be crumbled and used in other dishes, e.g. tossed through a green salad or used as flavoring in a pasta sauce.