Chicken with Cherry Tomato Sauce

Chicken with Cherry Tomato Sauce

This dish reminds me of my days traveling and working in Italy. Many years ago, I traveled to the city of Udine in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, which borders Austria and Slovenia. Within this beautiful, mountainous region of Italy lies a once medieval city that now has a modern twist of restaurants, bars, hotels and museums. It is a wonderful, walled city with fabulous walking trails through tiny cobbled streets where you find hidden gems of boutiques, cafés, ice cream parlors and antique shops. It’s a true traveler’s indulgence with beautiful architecture at every turn.

This recipe is so simple the kids can help you make it. They can help cut up the tomatoes, garlic, anchovies, and parsley while you cook over the stove. It’s a dish the whole family will love to prepare and enjoy eating. Within 30 minutes, it’s ready. You can all sit down, recount the fun you had making it, and congratulate each other on how well everything turned out. Remember to decide what’s going to be on the family menu the next night. Enjoy!

Chicken with cherry tomato sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 whole 3 ½ lb chicken cut into eight pieces or 4 even size portions of chicken (free range if possible)

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

2 anchovy fillets, minced

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

¼ cup pitted oil-cured olives

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

¼ cup dry white wine or low in sodium vegetables stock

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 365°F

How to make:

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place a large sauté pan or nonstick frying pan on the stove over a medium to high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, carefully add the chicken pieces. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes then carefully turn each piece of chicken over and continue to cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until crisp and golden brown on all sides.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and place onto a lined sheet pan and pop into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how large each piece of chicken is.

Wipe out the pan with paper towel and add the remaining oil to the pan along with the garlic and anchovy fillets, cook for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes, olives, capers and wine, allow to cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Use a fork to mash some of the tomatoes. Stir in the chopped parsley.

Remove the chicken from the oven and add to the sauce along with any juices from the chicken. Cover the chicken pieces with sauce, check that the chicken is cooked and serve.