Merguez Stuffed Chicken

This recipe was inspired by leftover rice. I had made a delicious Greek rice recipe a while back and I had a few cups left over. I was about to throw it out when Greg suggested that I use it as chicken stuffing. I don’t remember what inspired the rest but I do know that this dish is very flavorful. I used a lot of the ingredients that were in the rice recipe and added crumbled mergez sausage.  I know my friends are always looking for new chicken recipes and this one is definitely an interesting one.  It may look like many steps but it comes together quickly. If you ever have any extra white rice ( like from Chinese takeout) just freeze it and defrost when you are ready to prepare this chicken.  I use boneless chicken thighs but I’ve tried it with chicken breast and works well too, though not as moist.

Saute spinach, dill, lemon zest and spices for the stuffing

Crumble the sausage in the food processor until it’s this consistency

Mix the herb mixture, rice and sausage

Cover chicken with plastic wrap and pound to even thickness

Grab a fistful of stuffing and wrap chicken around the stuffing. As you can see, there is a big hole but it won’t be noticeable once it’s cooked and covered with marinade.

Cover the chicken with marinade

Merguez Stuffed Chicken

 

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Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

1 hour 15 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

 

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 10 oz spinach
• 1 bunch of dill divided
• 4 mergez sausages
• 2½ cups cooked white rice
• 1 tsp cumin divided
• 1 lemon (zest and juice)
• 2 tablespoons apricot jam
• 1 teaspoon mustard

Instructions

1. Wash and chop dill and divide in half
2. Saute spinach until completely wilted
3. Add dill, zest and juice of lemon, ½ teaspoon cumin
4. Saute for another minute. Turn off heat and set aside
5. Using s blade of food processor, grind sausage until it reaches consistency of picture above
6. Combine spinach mixture, rice and sausage in a bowl. Set a side
7. Cover chicken with plastic wrap and pound until even thickness
8. Take a fistful of stuffing and wrap chicken around it and set in a pan, nestled closely to each other
9. Prepare marinade by combining ½ teaspoon cumin, apricot jam, mustard, two tablespoons of oil and ½ of the dill
10. Spread on top of chicken
11. Bake at 375 covered for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake another 25 minutes

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