Roast Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Spinach and Mushrooms

Directions

• Step 1 Cut the back bone out of the chicken and lay flat in a large roasting pan on top of a rack.  You can ask your butcher to butterfly your chicken if you are not comfortable doing this yourself, although it’s much easier than you might think!
• Step 2 Save the back bone in a zip lock freezer bag to make homemade stock at a later time
• Step 3 In a large saute pan heat 1 1/2 TBS olive oil and 1 TBS butter over medium heat, saute the shallots and garlic until soft and fragrant
• Step 4 Add the mushrooms and thyme and continue cooking until the mushrooms cook down a bit
• Step 5 Season with salt and pepper
• Step 6 Add fresh spinach and stir until spinach is wilted then remove from heat
• Step 7 Check and adjust seasoning if necessary
• Step 8 If there is any liquid in the pan, make sure to drain from the pan
• Step 9 Let the spinach and mushroom mixture cool completely then add goat cheese. Stir to combine all of the ingredients
• Step 10 Drizzle a little olive oil all over the bottom of the chicken and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika
• Step 11 Turn the chicken over and with your finger tips very gently separate the skin from the meat on the breast and thigh without tearing the skin
• Step 12 With a tablespoon, start stuffing the spinach and mushroom mixture underneath the skin and gently spread over the meat by pressing on top of the skin with your fingers. Do this with both breasts and thighs
• Step 13 Drizzle remaining olive oil all of over the top of the chicken and add the remaining butter in small pieces all over the top.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Feel free to add any other seasoning that you like to use on your roasted chicken
• Step 14 You may do this ahead of time and store chicken in the fridge until ready to cook
• Step 15 Pre-heat oven to 350 and roast chicken uncovered for about an hour or until your meat thermometer reaches 165
• Step 16 Make sure to let the chicken rest for about 20 minutes before you cut into it