This dish owes its name to the terracotta pot in which the chicken used to be cooked. These days you are more likely to find it served in a modern casserole dish. Irrespective of what it’s cooked in, the ham and pork add a wonderful flavour dimension to the chicken.
preparation time 40 minutes
cooking time 2 to 21⁄4 hours
serves 4
Ingredients
1 x 1.6 kg (31⁄2 lb) chicken
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8 button onions, peeled
4 garlic cloves, peeled
50 g (2 oz) fresh flat-leaf parsley
125 g (4 oz) cured ham
1 bay leaf
6 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato purée
300 ml (10 fl oz) dry white wine
150 ml (5 fl oz) port
1 tablespoon Meaux-type mustard
50 g (2 oz) stoned black olives
chopped fresh coriander, to garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, gas mark 4.
2 Season the chicken very lightly with salt and pepper, and brush with the olive oil. Put half the button onions, garlic cloves and parsley into the cavity of the bird and secure with string or trussing sticks. (This will help the bird keep its shape and enhance the flavour during cooking.)
3 Arrange half the cured ham over the base of a deep ovenproof dish with the remaining parsley, onions and garlic and the bay leaf. Sit the chicken on top and cover the breasts with the remaining cured ham.
4 Mix together the tomatoes, tomato purée, wine, port and mustard. Season with salt and pepper and pour it over the chicken. Cover with a tight-fitting lid.
5 Bake in the preheated oven for 1¾–2 hours, until the chicken is tender (the juices should run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer near the bone). Carefully transfer the chicken to a roasting tray and keep it warm in the switched-off oven.
6 Bring the sauce to the boil on the hob and boil until reduced by at least a third. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
7 Dissect the bird, display neatly on a serving dish and pour the sauce over. Garnish with the black olives and some chopped coriander.
I like to serve celeriac and potato mash with this dish. Just boil peeled celeriac and potatoes until tender, then drain and mash. Drizzle in enough olive oil to give a slightly runny mixture, season and stir in some chopped fresh coriander.