What's for dinner: Roman chicken
5th in a food series (updated)
Draggin' the line
This combination of chicken, green olives and red bell pepper is fantastically delicious. I asked my daughter for additional descriptors, to help explain why we like this dish so much. She paused and said, "It tastes good." I said OK, anything else, and she said, "It mixes well." By which she meant this dish brings together flavors that are meant to be.
I originally found this recipe in the book Italian by Judy Bugg and six other authors (published in the UK in 1998 by Parragon). I found the book on a remainder table at Bookland [RIP, after 34 years at Cook's Corner, a victim of big-box hegemony] in Brunswick, Maine
Getting back to the recipe, whenever I make this dish, I wonder if four medium-large red bell peppers are really necessary. And I always conclude they are. Which is probably what you will find, if you try this recipe yourself.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts (purchased in bulk, on sale a while back, and defrosted today because red bell peppers were on sale)
1 medium-size red onion ($1.99 per bag of five onions), coarsely chopped
4 medium-large red bell pepper ($1.00 each, on sale), cut lengthwise into 1" x ¼" strips
2 8-ounce can tomato sauce, no salt added (3 cans for $1.00)
3 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoon fresh basil ($2.79 per package), chopped
½-pound Mt. Athos green olives with crushed garlic ($9.99 per pound from Whole Foods), with the juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of dried red chile flakes
a few shakes of organic black pepper ($2.99 per 1.8 ounce)
12 ounce rotini spiral-shaped pasta (= half the bag; 24-ounce bag for $3.59, on sale)
Procedure
Gently fry the red chile flakes in warm olive oil in a Dutch Oven over low heat. When the chile flakes darken, add the chicken, and cook over medium heat. When the chicken is browned, remove and set aside.
Add the onion to the Dutch Oven, and sauté until soft. Then add the bell pepper, tomato sauce, oregano and black pepper. Stir lightly. Return the chicken to the Dutch Oven. Add the basil and olives (with the olive juice), and stir.
Cover the Dutch Oven, and simmer for 45 minutes, breaking the chicken as it cooks into smaller pieces.
Meanwhile, cook rotini in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain well.
What's for dinner? See the series.
Posted by 3Dsound at Monday, April 14, 2008 6:59 PM 
Categories: RIP,draggin' the line,recipe,daughter,What's for dinner,chicken,food
Categories: RIP,draggin' the line,recipe,daughter,What's for dinner,chicken,food
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