Free-range chicken thighs stuffed with prawns with american sauce and crunchy guanciale

Chicken drumsticks stuffed with prawns in American sauce and crispy guanciale

A simple, fairly inexpensive, and easy-to-prepare recipe.

You will need:

• 5 free-range chicken drumsticks. The higher the quality of the chicken, the better.
• 10 medium-sized fresh prawns
• A splash of brandy
• Salt and pepper
• 1 spring onion
• Fried tomato sauce
• Guanciale (cured pork cheek)
• Basil

1. Debone the chicken drumsticks and clean the inside a bit of tendons. Keep the skin on. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Peel the prawns and save the heads.
3. Fill the drumsticks with two prawns and truss well. This step is the most complicated. If you don’t have much practice, you may be able to use some toothpicks to hold it together.
4. Place the chicken drumsticks and the prawn heads that we had reserved in a baking dish and add a good splash of Pago de Valdecuevas Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a little brandy. The combination of both will give us a sauce with spectacular aromas and flavor. Bake at 180/200 °C (350/390 °F) for 15 minutes.
5. In a pan, sauté the chopped spring onion in Pago de Valdecuevas oil and salt. Squeeze the juice from the prawn heads, but be careful not to throw them away yet. Put them in a glass, add water to cover (about 250 ml), cover them with film and pierce with a couple of holes; bring them to a boil in the microwave and let them infuse while the sauce is finishing (3 minutes will be enough).
6. Add a little fried tomato and the strained broth from the heads and let it reduce a little. Emulsify with a hand mixer.
7. Pass a few thin strips of guanciale or bacon through the pan over low heat until it is crispy and set aside.

Serve by placing the sauce on the bottom of the plate. Cut the untrussed drumsticks and place them on top, leaving the cut visible. Finally, add our guanciale and a little fresh basil, chopped at the moment. Finish with a good splash of Pago de Valdecuevas.