I’m a big fan of the fall for many reasons, but food-wise, I like being able to make heartier food that won’t make me sweat my face off while cooking in our tiny kitchen. Even though I came across Giada De Laurentiis’ Roman-style Chicken on FoodNetwork.com and made it during the summer, I think it’d be a good one to bring into the colder months.
I didn’t realize this while making it, but after tasting the dish, I realized it’s kind of a chicken-based puttanesca which regular readers will remember I’m a big fan of. In addition to being a very tasty dish, it’s pretty easy to put together. I followed the recipe as written, though I accidentally bought pancetta instead of prosciutto and didn’t have fresh thyme on hand, so I went with dried. Oh, I also just used boneless chicken breasts because that’s what I had in the freezer.
As usual, I got all my prep done first, cutting up the red and yellow peppers and the garlic, then opening the can of tomatoes, and combining the herbs with the wine because those all get added in at the same time. I like doing things like that because it might intensify the flavor, but it definitely gives me more counter space.
I cooked the chicken in olive oil, salt and pepper, then removed that and cooked the peppers and pancetta in the same pan. You add in the tomatoes, wine and herbs after first getting the garlic in there and then return the chicken, letting the whole thing simmer for 20 minutes. When that’s all set you stir in the parsley and capers and serve.
I served the dish this time just by itself assuming the tangy tomatoes and peppers would be great as a veggie, but I think next time I’d like to serve it on top of some pasta with the vegetables acting as a nice little sauce.
Pop Poppa 