Whole Imperial Chicken

Chicken born, raised and slaughtered in Italy. Celebrate with AIA and cook the Imperiale this way:
Roast Stuffed Imperiale

Preparation time: 3 hours and 30 minutes
Ingredients:

- 1 AIA Imperiale,
- Dried chestnuts 200 g,
- Apple 200 g,
- Prunes 150 g,
- Ground veal 100 g,
- Walnuts 60 g,
- Pancetta 30 g,
- 2 slices of sandwich bread soaked in milk,
- Sage,
- Rosemary,
- Bay leaf,
- Nutmeg,
- Marsala,
- White wine,
- Olive oil,
- Salt and pepper

Preparation:
soak the chestnuts for 12 hours, then boil in lightly salted water with a bay leaf. Drain and chop. Meanwhile, soak the prunes in warm water. Make the stuffing: to the bowl with the chestnuts, add the finely ground veal, the pitted prunes, chopped, and the thin slices of apple, chopped.

Add the chopped walnuts, then  the chopped pancetta together with the bread, squeezed dry. Salt and pepper the mixture and season with a third of a cup of marsala and a pinch of nutmeg.

Mix well to get a smooth stuffing for the Imperiale; sew up the openings with kitchen thread and place in a baking pan. Salt the Imperiale on the outside as well and season with rosemary and sage; drizzle oil over it and roast at 190° for about two and a half hours, basting it with its own juices and a cup of wine.

As soon as it is done, remove the threads and serve hot with roasted new potatoes. Serve the sauce hot on the side in a sauceboat.