Roast Chicken Truffle & Mushroom Orzo

• 1 whole chicken, approx. 1.7kg
• 75 g unsalted butter, softened
• 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Small handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Fresh thyme
• Salt & black pepper
• ½ lemon
• 1 garlic bulb, halved
• 250 g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 20 g dried porcini mushrooms
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 300 g orzo
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 50 g Parmesan, finely grated
• Truffle slices, to taste

Prepare the chicken

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 190 °C fan. Mix the butter with the grated garlic, lemon zest, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Carefully loosen the skin of the chicken and spread some of the butter underneath, rubbing the rest all over the outside.

Roast the chicken

2. 2

   Place the lemon and garlic bulb inside the cavity, tie the legs together and sit the chicken in a large ovenproof casserole dish. Roast for 40 minutes.

Prepare the mushrooms

3. 3

   Meanwhile, soak the porcini mushrooms in a little hot water for around 15 minutes, then roughly chop, keeping the soaking liquid.

Add vegetables and liquids

4. 4

   Add the onion, chestnut mushrooms, porcini, garlic and thyme underneath and around the chicken. Pour in the white wine, chicken stock and porcini soaking liquid, then return to the oven until the chicken is cooked through and golden, around 40–45 minutes.

Finish the orzo

5. 5

   Remove the chicken from the pot and leave to rest. Stir the orzo, Parmesan and #truffle slices through the mushrooms and all those roasting juices, then return the uncovered pot to the oven for 15 minutes, or until the orzo is tender

Serve

6. 6

   Carve the rested chicken and arrange it over the creamy truffle and mushroom orzo. Finish with even more freshly grated Parmesan and plenty of finely chopped parsley, then bring the whole pot to the table to serve.