This is a perfect dish for a warm spring evening, served with new season asparagus and greens. So invite some friends, head out into the garden and open the year’s first bottle of rosé.
Prep 20 min
Cook 30 min
Plus boiling chiken & making stock
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the chicken and stock
- 1.5kg whole chicken
- 500ml chicken stock (if you cannot get hold of fresh chicken stock then it is OK to use water instead)
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 8 peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
For the sauce
- 40g butter
- 40g flour
- 500ml chicken stock
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 1 tbsp chopped tarragon
- Salt and black pepper
For the gratin
- 80-100g prosciutto, roughly shredded
- 1 leek cut in half lengthways and sliced across into 1cm pieces
- 100g soft breadcrumbs
- ½ garlic clove, chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp finely grated parmesan
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
Method
1 To make the stock: place the whole chicken in a deep saucepan into which it fits snugly, breast-side up, along with the stock vegetables. Pour in the stock until it almost covers the chicken. Bring the pan to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook gently for about 1 hour. Turn the chicken upside‑down in the stock and cook for around 10 minutes longer. Turn off the heat, then allow the chicken to cool in the stock.
2 Prepare the meat: remove the chicken from the saucepan and pull off all the meat from the carcass, tearing any large pieces into strips about 1-2cm wide. Put the shredded meat into the fridge. Return the chicken bones to the stock and bring it back up to a simmer. Leave it for another hour, uncovered, then strain and set aside.
3 To make the sauce: bring the chicken stock to a gentle simmer in one pan while heating the butter over a medium heat in another. The pan with the butter needs to be big enough to fit all of the stock comfortably. When the butter has completely melted, tip in the flour and stir well with a wooden spoon until you have a paste. Stir over a low heat for at least 3 minutes – it should go a golden colour but should not brown. Now start adding the stock a ladle at a time. If you have never made a velouté or white sauce before the first few ladles can be quite alarming as the flour will clump up and you will be convinced the sauce is going to be lumpy. But stir it well between each ladle and you will end up with something silky smooth. When all the stock has been added, whisk the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes to ensure the flour has cooked through. Add the mustard and tarragon, then season well.
4 To assemble the gratin: set the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Arrange the cooked chicken, prosciutto and leeks in an ovenproof dish. Pour over the sauce. Mix all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Season and sprinkle over the chicken and sauce. Cook for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown. (If you made the sauce the day before and it is fridge-cold, you may need to add 10 minutes.)
5 While the chicken gratin is cooking, prepare your veg.