Chicken Angelo

Hi everyone! I want to welcome to all my new readers.  It's so nice when new people stop by and of course my regular readers too! It's so nice to know that there's someone out there that reads this.  If there's anything that you're looking for that I haven't posted yet, feel free to reach out to me through email or through the comments section and if there isn't anything I would still love it if you said, Hi! :-)

Remember the North End Cookbook that I told you all about recently?  I decided to try another recipe from it on Sunday.  I changed it a lot but the flavors are still the same.  The original recipe feeds 12 people and uses two cut up chickens.  I wanted to use boneless and skinless chicken and so I needed to adjust a few things.  The original recipe called for 12 tomatoes and I rather wait for them to be in season before I waste money on so many tomatoes out of season that will be high priced and low flavor.  I used diced tomatoes as a substitution and it worked very well.  I kept true to the recipe in the way I built the flavors in a similar way she did.

Chicken Angelo

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage
3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
3 boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 stick unsalted butter (I only used about 6 Tbsp throughout the recipe)
1 8oz. can artichoke hearts in water
1 package cremini mushrooms, sliced or quartered
7-8 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large onions, sliced
2 shallots, diced
1- 16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp. dried basil
pinch dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. flour
1 lb. pasta (such as penne, cellentani, rigatoni, etc.)
Romano cheese, for sprinkling

Directions:

1.  Slice chicken and sausage into large bite sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

2.  Heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter in a large skillet.  Brown chicken and sausage in two batches (make sure to mix up the sausage and chicken in each batch so the chicken gets flavored by the sausage).  Add more oil/butter as necessary.  Remove from pan and place into a baking dish. Do not wipe out skillet.

3.  In same skillet, melt another tablespoon of butter.  Reduce heat a bit and add sliced onions and half of the garlic to the pan.  Saute gently and allow to cook until soft.    Add diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley.  Toss lightly.  Let cook for about 10 -15 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to break down and release their juices.  Pour sauce over the chicken in the pan.  Sprinkle with wine. Toss lightly.  Return pan to heat.

4.  While sauce is cooking, prepare mushrooms.  In same skillet melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and remainder of garlic.  Cook until mushrooms brown and soften and garlic is soft but not burnt.  If garlic is browing too quickly, turn heat down to medium low.  When cooked, remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon and add to pan with chicken.  Drain artichoke hearts and reserve some of the liquid.  Add artichokes and chopped olives to baking pan. 

5.  Again in the same skillet add 1 more tablespoon of butter to remaining butter and oil in the pan.  When melted add flour and stir with a wooden spoon.  Slowly add chicken broth to the pan (a little at a time to prevent lumps) while stirring.  Allow to thicken.  You will want a thin paste, if it's too thick, thin it out with a little bit of the water from the artichoke hearts.  When you have reached the desired consistency add to chicken.  Toss lightly. 

6.  Bake in at 350 for 15-20 minutes to be sure that chicken is cooked through and all flavors merge.  As long as your chicken wasn't cut up too small, the chicken will not dry out.  There is plenty of liquid in the pan. 

7.  While chicken is baking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta.  Add pasta to the baking pan and toss together.  You can serve it right from there or transfer to a serving bowl.  Sprinkle with cheese and serve with crusty bread for dipping. 

This meal is hearty and filling.  Feel free to add in any veggies that you like, zucchini and eggplant would be a great addition.

Click here for a printable recipe of Chicken Angelo.