🍗" />

Stuffed Chicken and Hushwa

Virginia Farhat's Lebanese stuffed chicken — spiced rice and meat filling tucked under the skin

Section
Main Dishes — Chicken
Temp
400°F then 350°F
Time
~2 hours

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 2 lbs lean ground chuck
  • 2½ cups medium-grain rice
  • Pine nuts, as desired
  • 2 Tbsp Syrian spice
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Pats of margarine
  • Flour (for dusting outside)
  • Water (for roasting pan)

Directions

  1. Wash rice then drain. Add 2 Tbsp Syrian spice and mix. Add 2 lbs meat and salt the meat. Mix meat and rice together, adding pine nuts if desired. Add water to make meat and rice soft and runny.
  2. Sprinkle a little cinnamon in the cavity of the chicken. Make an opening with your hand in the breast between the skin and white meat. Put 1½ handfuls of stuffing under each breast. Fill the cavity of chicken with remaining stuffing. Close cavity with pita bread and place toothpicks to hold the bread in place.
  3. Put salt, pepper, and pats of margarine on the outside of the chicken. Then sprinkle flour on the outside.
  4. Place in a roaster on a rack. Fill bottom of roaster with water up to the beginning of the rack. Cover.
  5. Bake at 400°F for ½ hour, then lower to 350°F for 1½ hours. After 1 hour, look at chicken and baste it.
  6. If not brown enough after 1½ hours, put temp to 425°F for 5–10 minutes, uncovered.
The pita bread closure is a traditional Lebanese technique — it steams into the stuffing and keeps everything moist while the chicken roasts.