Stuffing only really works if you press it between the skin and the flesh of the bird thereby allowing it to flavour the meat and cook down through it. To avoid splitting the skin it is essential that you first cut the chicken along the backbone - a good kitchen knife or kitchen scissors will do the trick.

Ingredients - serves 4-6

1.8kg chicken
200g ricotta cheese
30g parmesan cheese
150g rainbow chard, blanched, squeezed & finely chopped
salt, pepper

olive oil
1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika

Method

1 The stuffing goes under the skin - so first you need to loosen that by working from the cavity end, (and this is made easier if you cut along the backbone to open and ‘flatten’ the chicken) lifting and separating it first from the breasts with your fingers and then working gently around the thighs and legs. Do not break the skin!

2 Preheat the oven to 180°C
Mix together the cheeses, chopped chard and some seasoning then push up and under the skin, spreading it over the whole bird. Once it’s all in there you can push it back together so that it looks like its former self. Now rub with olive oil over the skin, sprinkle with more seasoning and the smoked paprika and roast as usual. The skin will be gloriously red-golden and the flesh will be very moist.