Prep Chicken

• Lay a piece of plastic wrap, wider and several inches longer than your flattened chicken, over your workspace.
• Lay chicken on top of wrap, skin side down and season well with kosher salt and cajun seasoning. Amount of seasoning will depend on your personal preference. Set aside while you make the stuffing.

Make Stuffing

• Melt butter in a saute pan and add onion and celery. Cook and stir for a few minutes, until onion softens but doesn't brown. Add garlic and continue cooking and stirring just until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in chicken broth, bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
• Stir breadcrumbs into pan, mixing to coat evenly. Scrape mixture into a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool completely.
• Once cool, stir in fresh parsley, 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Work andouille sausage in with your hands, mixing well.

Assemble Chicken & Chill

• Spread stuffing in an even layer over seasoned chicken, not quite all the way to the edges. Sprinkle diced tomato over.
• Bring each side of chicken up and over filling, meeting in the center. Do this so that the breast meat is at one end and the legs are at the other. Use the plastic wrap to help guide and hold everything together, wrapping the chicken tightly to enclose the stuffing completely.
• Chill the chicken for at least an hour and up to overnight. This will firm it up so that it's easier to tie.

Roast

• When you're ready to cook, preheat your oven to 375°f. Remove chicken from fridge and lay length of butcher twine on a flat surface. Gently unwrap chicken, laying it over the string longways and proceed to tie up chicken, sealing in stuffing as you go. See video link in post for details on tying.
• Rub olive oil and more cajun seasoning (or just salt and pepper) over all sides. the amount of seasoning is up to your preferences.
• Place in roasting pan drizzled with a little olive oil with seam facing up. Line the pan with parchment if desired for easier clean up. Roast, covered, until center registers 120°f, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Time will depend on your oven and the starting temperature of your chicken so I recommend using a meat thermometer and checking after 1 hour.
• Increase oven to 400°f, uncover pan and continue cooking until thermometer registers 165°f (take this temperature from the dark meat end), about 20-30 minutes longer. Remove from oven, tent loosely with foil and allow to rest 5-10 minutes before removing string and slicing.

Make Cajun Cream Sauce While Chicken Cooks

• Melt 2 Tbsp butter in saucepan. Add garlic and Italian seasoning and stir 30 seconds, until garlic is fragrant.
• Add heavy cream, lemon zest and cajun seasoning and simmer on low for about 10 minutes, whisking often, until sauce is slightly thickened.
• Whisk in parmesan and lemon juice and simmer 1 minute more. Taste. Adjust seasoning to your preference.

Pass chicken with sauce for drizzling over and enjoy!