Roasted chicken with plums and pine nuts

I am one of those who thinks that the important thing is to celebrate all the important moments around the table and, of course, with a good meal. At home we love to cook, as you can guess, and although we like traditions, we also like to vary the menus every year, whether it is Christmas, New Year, Epiphany,...

For Christmas Eve we had lamb cooked at low temperature for dinner and for New Year's Eve my star dish is this one that I bring you today, a traditional and very festive dish from Catalan cuisine, a dish that is traditionally prepared there for Christmas but that is ideal for any meal in which you feel like showing off.

This is roast chicken, as they say there, a chicken stew with prunes and pine nuts that make it irresistible to any palate. Do you dare to try it? Don't miss the recipe.

Le Creuset low saucepan style cocotte and Le Creuset spoon spatula

Ingredients (4 - 6 people)

• 1 free range chicken in eight pieces
• 1 liter of chicken broth
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 peeled shallots
• 15 pitted prunes
• 75 g of pine nuts
• 1 glass of brandy
• ½ head of garlic
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bouquet garni
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Elaboration

1. To start, heat the brandy and prunes in a saucepan . Once it reaches boiling point, remove from heat and let it rest covered.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown it in our low cocotte with olive oil (this step will need to be done in batches to brown all the chicken pieces well). Set aside.
3. If there is too much fat in the cocotte, remove some of it and add the chopped onion, shallots, half a head of garlic, cinnamon stick and bouquet garni. Sauté for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
4. We strain the plums, set them aside and add the brandy to the sauce we are making. It is important to raise the heat at this stage. We reduce the liquid and add the chicken pieces. We add the chicken broth until it is covered and cook covered over medium heat for half an hour.
5. While the chicken is cooking in a pan , carefully brown the pine nuts. It is important to keep an eye on them as they burn very easily - if you lose sight of them and start to smell popcorn, they are burning. Once they are browned, remove them from the pan and set aside.
6. After half an hour, remove the lid from the cocotte, turn up the heat, add the prunes and cook for 10 more minutes, thus reducing the sauce.
7. Finally, once 10 minutes have passed, add the toasted pine nuts.
8. Serve hot. Oh, and don't forget to drizzle the roast with sauce once it's served! The best part of these dishes is always the sauce!

Le Creuset low saucepan-style cocotte , Le Creuset spatula spoon and Pallarès carbon steel knife

These stews are ideal, tasty and everyone likes them. As with any good stew, in this case roasted, you can't go without some good bread nearby to accompany it, but I can tell you that some vegetables and some delicious mashed potatoes are always a fantastic accompaniment.

Happy Holidays!