RECIPE: Easy Sage and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken

A small flock of red breasted robins swept past me: a tangible harbinger of spring. The signs are unmistakable. Although it may be hard to fathom after a winter that never seemed to get started, warmer days will be upon us before we know it.

These next weeks will entail changing wardrobes from winter to summer-wear, putting away the unused sleds and pulling out skateboards and bikes. My boys have already located their baseball gloves, and been to the cages twice. With the change of season we will do away with the cozy comfort foods, and dust off the old grill for the next round of barbecued everything.

Call it a last hurrah, but I wanted to squeeze one more good old fashioned sit down dinner out of the calendar before the onset of spring. Also, I had depleted my chicken stock reserves from the freezer over the winter, so I figured on killing two birds with one stone: a whole roasted chicken for dinner, and I could replenish my chicken stock later by boiling down the bones. It never hurts to plan.

I was pleasantly surprised to find chicken roasters are very affordable, and can be found for as little as 89 cents a pound. I happened to spy a container of Prosciutto at Trader Joes, and fresh sage in the produce aisle. What can be better than sage and proscuitto stuffed chicken?

Although I had not attempted this before, I figured it couldn't be too difficult. The skin of the chicken was actually very easy to pull away from the underlying meat, and I simply tucked the Prosciutto in layers across the breasts and a piece tucked into each leg, and covers the slices with the sage leaves. I secured the now stretched skin with toothpicks, and drizzled a bit of olive oil, then lightly salted and peppered the entire bird.

For a side dish, I rough cut sweet potatoes into discs, and tucked the slices in around the chicken, sprinkling with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh chopped rosemary. I also had a separate pan of red bliss potatoes and carrots sprinkled with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. This meal that took minutes to prepare was a delicious swan song to winter. Enjoy!

Sage and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken

1 small whole chicken (5-6 lbs)

8-10 Sage Leaves

8-10 Proscuitto

*salt, pepper, olive oil to taste

*Wash and pat dry whole chicken. Insert a sharp knife under the skin on the breast of the chicken from the bottom and using for fingers create a pocket on each breast, allowing the skin to remain intact. Insert proscuitto strips, laying them flat onto the meat of each breast under the skin. Over the Prosciutto, insert a couple of sage leaves, laying them flat, also.

Using the knife, create a pocket under the skin of both legs, and repeat with the sage and proscuitto (I could fit only one sage leaf and one slice of Prosciutto for each leg.

If needed, secure the skin with toothpicks, and tie the legs together with string to keep the bird together. Lightly drizzle the whole bird with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cook at 350 degrees for one and a half hours, or until golden brown and the juices run clear.