(by Christine Celozzi)
8 - 10 oz. Ritz crackers, crumbled
1 sweet sausage, casing removed
1 hot sausage, casing removed
8 oz. grated Romano cheese, plus additional to taste
2 eggs
large roasting chicken, approximately 6 - 7 lb.
2 lb. potatoes, quartered
1/2 lb. carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 c. Italian dressing, or more to taste
salt and pepper to taste
3 - 4 T. fresh parsley, chopped
15 oz. can chicken broth
Preheat oven to 325 F.
In a frying pan over medium heat, combine crackers and sausages, breaking up as they cook.
Stir in Romano cheese.
Remove to a bowl and add eggs.
Form mixture into a ball and stuff in the cavity of the chicken.
Put chicken in a roasting pot with the potatoes, carrots and celery.
Add salt and pepper, parsley, Italian dressing, and additional cheese to taste.
Pour chicken broth around the vegetables.
Cover the pan and roast without uncovering for at least 3 hours.
Chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted between the leg and the breast, without touching the bone, reads between 160 and 165 degrees, or if the juices run clear when a knife is inserted between the leg and the breast.
(Read Layers, the story that accompanies this recipe.)