Chicken Scarpariello: A Gift for Gran Fran

/

There was a time that I couldn't deal with cooking things that had too many steps. I suppose I just became lazy at some point. Eventually, I came back around to the thrill of the multiple step recipe, that involves measuring cups and spoons and even multiple knives for different ingredients. It dawned on me that Gran Fran just keeps cooking, no matter how much mess, how many pots and pans or how long it'll take. If there is a recipe that needs to be made, she will make it no matter what.

This year, for her birthday,one of my sisters asked me to shoot and make a bunch of Gran Fran's recipes so we could make her a nice little book as a gift. I didn't have much time, only a week and a half, so I tried to choose recipes that would be relatively easy to work through.

A quick look through Gran Fran's blog, revealed to me that many of the recipes, though simple, involve many steps and ingredients. So much for making this project easy. Though it was challenging, due to time constraints (not to mention that Gran Fran planned a last-minute trip that landed mid-deadline, making me stop my work, so as to not ruin the surprise gift that was to come a few weeks later), I really did enjoy working on these recipes.

The recipes I chose all turned out really well, flavor-wise, I think, because of the many layers of flavor. For this Chicken Scarpariello, the hot cherry peppers offset the sweet fennel sausage nicely. The steps are simple, there are just a lot of them. But, the end result is totally worth it.

original recipe from The Italian Pantry, Fran Claro's Food Blog

Chicken Scarpariello

Serves six

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, quartered
  • One 4-pound chicken, well rinsed, dried, cut into 10 pieces
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1 pound sweet sausage with fennel, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
  • 4 to 7 hot cherry peppers in vinegar, diced
  • 1 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth

Method:

 

  • Add chicken to pan; sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. 
  • Brown chicken thoroughly on allsides.
  • Remove chicken from pan; set aside.
  • In same pan, saute sausage until cooked through
  • To pan, add diced peppers, including seeds; stir.
  • Remove sausage andpeppers from pan; set aside.
  • Add wine to panand reduce by half; add broth.
  • Stir all scrapings from bottom of pan into the wine and broth.
  • Return all ingredients to pan; bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat; cover closely.
  •  Simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
  • Remove sausage and chicken from pan; set aside.
  • Over medium heat, reduce sauce until it coats a spoon.
  • Pour sauce over chicken; serve with mashed potatoes.

photocrati gallery