Chicken Contadina

Chicken Contadina - a classic, country-style chicken recipe of crispy chicken bathed in a fragrant white wine sauce with tomatoes and fresh herbs.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: main dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 620kcal

Author: Nancy Buchanan

Ingredients

2 lbs. chicken thighs skinless, boneless
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 stalk celery diced
2 cloves garlic minced with salt
4 sprigs rosemary OR parsley or 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups cherry tomatoes or other fresh or canned tomatoes
3 Tbsp. Italian parsley minced
1 lemon zested
salt
pepper

Instructions

Blot the chicken dry with paper towels.
Lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside.
Cut onion into ¼ inch slices.
Peel and dice the carrot into ½ dice.
Slice the celery into ½ dice.
Mince the garlic with a little salt. This helps break down the garlic so that it melts into the sauce.
Heat a large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat.
Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.
Add the chicken and cook for 4 - 5 minutes until the chicken easily lifts from the pan and is golden brown.
Turn the chicken over and cook for another 2 - 3 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Add the onion, carrots, celery, and herbs and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add the garlic and continue to cook for another 3 -4 minutes.
Add the wine and stir, scraping up the bottom of the pan.
Continue to cook until almost all the wine has evaporated.
Add the chicken back to the pan (with any accumulated juices), the stock and the tomatoes.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Cover the skillet and continue to simmer for another 10 - 15 minutes our until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
If using fresh herbs, remove any stems. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Sprinkle the lemon zest and parsley on top and serve.

Notes

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken - I used skinless, boneless chicken thighs for their richer flavor, but feel free to use any chicken pieces that you have/enjoy. NOTE: if you use bone in chicken, the cooking time will be longer!

Tomatoes - as I mentioned, you can use almost any type of tomatoes in this recipe. Fresh or canned both work! If using canned tomatoes, drain them before adding to the recipe.

Herbs - I love using fresh herbs in this dish, but if you don't have them on hand, dried herbs work well. Italian seasoning or a combination of basil/rosemary, oregano all work really well. If you have an mediterranean herb blend that you like, feel free to use that as well.

Wine - wine adds a depth of flavor and some needed acidity to this dish. If you don't drink (or don't have wine on hand!) use 1 to 2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I would start with 1 tablespoon. Before serving, taste the sauce and if it seems a little bland, add more lemon juice to taste.

TIPS:

Mincing garlic with just a pinch of salt helps to break down the garlic so that it almost dissolves during cooking. This is one of my favorite techniques for avoiding chunks of garlic in a dish!

STORAGE:

This recipe can be made a day ahead of time. Let the chicken cool and then cover and refrigerate.

To reheat: cover the dish with a lid or foil and re heat in a 350 degree oven.

This recipe also freezes well. Cover and freeze up to 2 months. To re heat, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then re heat in a 350 degree oven.

Nutrition