20
Roberto Caruso
12 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs, or 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tbsp olive oil
6 halves roasted red pepper, bottled or home-roasted
5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 tsp salt
170-mL bottle quartered marinated artichoke hearts, drained
Trim off any visible fat from chicken. Heat oil in a large wide saucepan set over medium-high heat. Place half of chicken in pan. Cook until golden on both sides, turning halfway through. If using thighs, this will take from 4 to 6 minutes per side. If using breasts, this will take from 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a large plate. Add remaining chicken and cook until golden. Reduce heat to medium, then return all of chicken and any accumulated juices to pan.
Meanwhile, if using bottled peppers, drain well and pat dry with paper towels. Slice bottled or home-roasted peeled peppers into 1/4-inch- (1-cm-) thick pieces. Add to pan with garlic. Cook, stirring often, until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in wine and add salt. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up any brown bits from pan bottom into sauce to add flavour. Stir in artichokes.
Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then reduce heat to medium and boil gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced by about one-quarter, from 6 to 8 more minutes. At this point, sauce will measure about 3/4 cup (175 mL).
Before serving, set aside 4 chicken thighs or 2 breasts and 1/4 cup (50 mL) sauce to use as a base for another meal. Place in a freezer bag, seal and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months. Serve remaining chicken with sauce spooned overtop. Great with mashed potatoes and green beans. Sprinkle Parmesan overtop, if you like.
Calories 245, Protein 26.3g, Carbohydrates 7.1g, Fat 9.4g, Fibre 1.9g, Sodium 532mg.
Bottled artichokes and peppers give chicken an upscale edge in this easy entree. The sauce is quite rich, so spoon it out sparingly and then incorporate the leftovers into an elegant pasta toss or a comforting chicken soup.
If using chicken thighs, remove meat from bones. Chop or tear chicken into bite-size pieces. For a hearty dinner soup, stir leftover sauce with a can of diluted, low-sodium chicken broth. Add chicken pieces, chopped coriander and cooked rice noodles for an easy chicken noodle soup. Or for a fast pasta dish, heat leftover sauce with some whipping cream or your favourite pasta sauce until hot. Stir in chicken pieces and chopped parsley. Pour over cooked rigatoni or penne. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan, if you like.