Italian Style Chicken

(All Recipes have Gluten-Free Options)

Chicken ‘Alla Cacciatora’ (Serves 4-6)

This is a classic Italian dish – chicken cooked ‘hunter-style’; in bygone days that generally meant whatever meat hunted cooked with the available garden vegetables or perhaps some foraged mushrooms. Just recently I discovered this particular version from food writer Rachel Roddy and it has become a favourite of mine as not only is it easy to prepare but very tasty with simple, balanced flavours. You can of course serve it with any potatoes of your choice but Roddy’s recipe for Herb and Lemon Roast Potatoes (here) is particularly good – the lemon, which becomes wonderfully chewy from cooking, adds a delicious dimension.

5 tablespoons olive oil

2kg chicken jointed into 12 pieces (or a mixture of skin-on legs and thighs)

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 garlic cloves

A pinch of dried chilli flakes

Sprig of sage

400ml dry white wine, plus extra if needed

1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Handful of pitted black olives

Sea salt and black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan (with a lid) over a medium-low heat. Working in batches, add the chicken, skin-side down and cook until a golden crust forms, then turn and brown the underside.
Chop the leaves from the one sprig of rosemary and finally chop the garlic cloves. Once all the meat has browned, return to the pan and sprinkle with the chopped rosemary and garlic, plus the chilli flakes. Add the remaining whole rosemary sprig and the sage, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the wine, stir, cover the pan and reduce the heat to low.
Allow the chicken to simmer, turning the pieces from time to time until the meat is tender and everything is surrounded by a dense gravy – this takes around 45-60 minutes. If at any point the pan seems a little dry add a little more wine.
Remove the lid for the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the red wine vinegar to taste and the olives, stir, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve with herb & lemon roasted potatoes (here).

Chicken with Sweet Tomatoes (Serves 4)

This recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s cookbook, ‘Jamies’s Dinners’, which came out in 2004 and I have cooked it on many occasions since then. Although it may not be an authentic Italian recipe, I’m sure that Oliver took inspiration from Italy for this dish, it’s simply chicken legs slow-cooked on a bed of tomatoes with handfuls of basil and garlic. The skin of the chicken ends up beautifully crispy whilst the meat literally falls off the bone, meanwhile the slow roasted tomatoes create a fabulous broth – it’s all delicious! I like to add some new potatoes to the pot or you could add cannellini beans instead – either way it makes a great ‘one-pot supper’!

4 chicken legs

A big bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped

1 big handful of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

1 big handful of ripe plum tomatoes, quartered

1 whole bulb of garlic, broken up into cloves, unpeeled

1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped

Olive oil

2 handfuls of new potatoes halved or 1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained (optional – see above)

Sea salt and black pepper

Season the chicken pieces and put them in a casserole in on single layer. Add the basil leaves and chopped stalks, then the tomatoes. Scatter over the garlic cloves and the chopped chilli and drizzle with some olive oil (at this point you can also add the new potatoes or cannellini beans if you are using). Mix everything around, tucking the tomatoes under the chicken. Make sure that the chicken legs are skin side up.
Place in a preheated oven, 180’c fan, for 1½ hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and golden.
Serve, making sure you squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of the skins!

Buttery Lemon Roast Chicken with Artichoke, Fennel & Pecorino Salad (Serves 4)

This is from Skye McAlpines cookbook ‘A Table for Friends’, she describes this recipe for roast chicken as her ‘failsafe’, which can’t be a bad thing! The salad is from the same book, its flavours are fantastic with the roast chicken. I also like to serve this dish with ‘Concetta’s Potatoes’ (recipe here).

Buttery Lemon Roast Chicken (Serves 4)

A large bunch of sage

1 lemon

50g salted butter, softened

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes, plus a generous pinch

1 small chicken, about 1.4kg

Finely chop half the sage and finely zest the lemon. In a bowl mix the butter, chopped sage, lemon zest and the 1 teaspoon of salt, mashing to a paste.
Put the chicken in a roasting tray. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze some of the juice into the cavity, then stuff the 2 halves inside with the remaining sage sprigs.
Gently lift the skin flap on the right breast and smear one-quarter of the butter mixture under it, using your fingers to press it down as far and as evenly as possible, taking care not to tear the skin. Repeat with the left breast. Now rub the rest of the butter over the chicken, on the breasts, legs and wings. Sprinkle all over with an extra pinch of salt.
Roast the chicken in a preheated oven, 180’c fan, for 1¼ hours, until the skin is golden and crisp and the juices run clear when you stick a knife into the thickest part (between the leg and body). Leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving with a spoonful of the pan juices.

Artichoke, Fennel & Pecorino Salad (Serves 4-6)

Just three main ingredients, but wow, they really sing together! Using artichokes preserved in oil makes this recipe a year-round option.

10 baby artichokes in oil

1 fennel bulb

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

A handful parsley leaves

100g pecorino cheese or parmesan cheese, shaved

Sea salt and black pepper

Quarter the artichokes. Remove the fennel fronds and save to dress the salad. Finely slice the fennel bulb.
Put the artichokes and sliced fennel into a salad bowl, squeeze over the juice of the lemon and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss, then add the parsley leaves, season with salt and pepper and toss again.
Top with shavings of pecorino and the reserved fennel fronds.

Deconstructed Chicken, Porcini, Pancetta and Sage Pies with Cavolo Nero (Serves 4)

The filling of these pies is very tasty, the dried porcini give it a deliciously robust flavour. The individual pastry lids mean that you can serve up gluten-free options if required, or for a lighter supper, simply serve the chicken mixture with the cavolo nero. The pastry lids would work just as well with any sort of stew or casserole – a great idea for serving up leftovers!…

500g skinless chicken breasts

25g dried porcini

1 chicken stock cube

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 small red onions sliced into half-moons

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

100g smoked pancetta, cubed

20g fresh sage leaves, chopped

150g portabellini mushrooms, roughly chopped

½ tablespoon cornflour

250g créme fraiche

320g Ready rolled puff pastry (gluten-free if required)

1 egg, beaten

400g cavolo nero (or savoy cabbage)

Put the porcini in a bowl with the stock cube and 250ml boiling water, leave to rehydrate for 5 minutes, then drain, reserving the liquid; roughly chop and set aside until needed.
Season the chicken and place on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and cook in a preheated oven, 160’c fan, for 25 minutes or until the juices run clear; chop and set aside until needed.
Add the oil to a large frying pan and gently sauté the onions over a low heat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Increase the heat and add the pancetta and sage, stirring for 2-3 minutes until the pancetta is golden brown.
Add the drained, roughly chopped porcini, cook for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the reserved porcini liquid and the portabellini mushrooms, then continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Mix the cornflour and crème fraiche together and add to the pan. Bring to the boil to thicken, then remove from the heat. Stir in the chopped chicken and set aside until needed.
Unroll the pastry and cut out 4 round lids – a small saucer approx.12cm diameter makes a good template. Gently score a pattern into the pastry. Brush a little beaten egg over the top of each lid and place on a baking tray. Cook in a preheated oven, 180’c fan for about 20 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
Meanwhile, cook the cavolo nero, cut out the bitter stem from the leaves and discard and roughly chop the leaves. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the cavolo nero and cook for 3-4 mins until wilted and darker in colour.
Just before serving bring the chicken mixture to the boil. Divide the cavolo nero between four plates, then top with the reheated chicken ‘filling’ and an individual pastry lid.

Chicken with Red Grapes and Marsala (Serves 4)

I adore cooking with Marsala wine, both in savoury and sweet dishes, as it lends a wonderful musky sweetness without being overpowering. In this recipe from Nigella Lawson’s cookbook ‘At My Table’, it is combined with grapes and chicken to make a very elegant dish. In the photo above you can see that I used chicken supremes, which are chicken breasts with the bone still attached, they are particularly plump and juicy, however, this recipe would work equally well with regular skin-on chicken breasts (perhaps reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes if they are smaller). This dish is delicious served simply with steamed new potatoes.

120ml Marsala wine

120ml Chicken stock

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 Chicken supremes or chicken breasts with skin-on (see note above)

40 or so Seedless red grapes

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, plus a few sprigs for decoration

Mix the Marsala, chicken stock and mustard together.
Heat the oil in a casserole dish or deep oven-proof frying pan, fry the chicken supremes, skin-side down for about 5 minutes or until they are golden brown. Turn the chicken skin-side up and add the Marsala mixture to the pan, let it bubble up, then add the grapes and sprinkle over the thyme leaves. Bring everything to a gentle boil, then transfer to a preheated oven, 180’c fan, for about 20 minutes, until the chicken skin is bronzed and crisp and the meat is cooked through.
Transfer the chicken and grapes to a serving plate. Place the pan with the cooking juices over a high heat and allow them to bubble away for a few minutes until they are reduced and thickened.
To serve, pour the sauce around the chicken (avoiding the crisped skin) and scatter over some thyme sprigs.

Chicken Breasts with Lemon & Capers (Serves 4)

In this recipe, chicken is complemented with the flavour of capers combined with the wonderful acidity of lemon – it really is a match made in heaven! I found it many moons ago in Antonio Carluccio’s cookbook ‘An Invitation to Italian Cooking’, which has lots of wonderful, classic Italian recipes…the page with this recipe is particularly well thumbed! I like to serve these chicken breasts with ‘Italian Style Sauté Potatoes with Garlic & Rosemary’ and ‘Fried Carrots’ (recipes below).

*If your chicken breasts are particularly large, you may find it easier to ‘butterfly’ them (you can ask your butcher to do this). You could also cut them into escalopes (see my video here). This will make them quicker to cook through, so you may want to reduce the cooking time that I have suggested.

4 chicken breasts (see note above)

Plain flour for dusting (gluten free if required)

45g butter

1 tablespoon capers

1 large lemon, juiced and zested

Sea salt and black pepper

Season the flour with salt and pepper and roll the chicken breasts in them, shaking off any excess flour.
Heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat, when it is hot add the chicken breasts. Fry gently on each side until they are cooked through and golden brown – about 15 minutes (see note above). Remove the chicken to a warm plate.
Add the capers, grated lemon zest and lemon juice to the pan. Stir well to deglaze the pan, season with salt and pepper and pour over the chicken breasts.

Gnocchi with Chicken Sauce (Serves 4)

Just when I thought I had exhausted all the pasta sauces along came this wonderful recipe! The rich chicken sauce beautifully complements the gnocchi, however I also think that it would work very well with either pappardelle or tagliatelle. You could, of course, make your own gnocchi, but these days it’s possible to buy great quality gnocchi from the supermarket, including those that are gluten free.

I found this recipe in ‘Flavours of Sicily’ by Ursula Ferrigno, a book which concentrates on Sicilian dishes – if you have never visited this beautiful island, I urge you to put it on your bucket list, you will be in ‘food heaven’!

500g potato gnocchi (gluten free if required)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

50g pancetta, cubed

4 chicken thighs, boneless and skin-on, cut into bitesize pieces

100g green pitted olives

3 bay leaves

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tablespoons tomato purée

125ml white wine

50g dried porcini mushrooms

100g chestnut mushrooms, halved if large.

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

150ml chicken stock

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

Parmesan cheese, grated to serve

Firstly soak the porcini in cold water for 10 minutes, drain reserving the soaking water.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or casserole (which has a lid), add the onion and cook until golden.
Add the pancetta, cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the chicken and stir fry for 10 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients except the parsley and parmesan cheese. Simmer, covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally – if the mixture becomes a little dry add a splash of the reserved porcini soaking water.
Just as the sauce is ready, cook the gnocchi in boiling water according to the cooking instructions – they should only need 2-3 minutes.
Drain the gnocchi, add to the sauce and stir in the chopped parsley, checking the seasoning. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Chicken Milanese with Spaghetti & Tomato Sauce (Serves 4)

(with a Gluten Free Option)

This is one of our family favourites! It is a recipe I found years ago, on a ‘Jamie Oliver’ phone app, the app has since been deleted, but fortunately, I made a note of the recipe!… For a gluten free option I ‘bread’ the chicken pieces in ‘Mrs Crimble’s Gluten Free Ready to Use Breadcrumbs’ which you can buy in UK supermarkets; they are a very good alternative, in fact, the Chicken Milanese in the final photo above, is made with them!

2 – 3 chicken breasts

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 small bunch of basil

½ bunch of parsley

400g tin chopped tomatoes

Plain flour for dusting (gluten free if required)

1-2 eggs

1 loaf of ciabatta

Olive oil

300g spaghetti (gluten free if required)

Sea salt and pepper

Cut the crusts off of the ciabatta, tear the bread into the bowl of a food processor and process to bread crumbs adding a splash of olive oil and salt and pepper. Set aside.
Pick the leaves from the herbs, put these to one side and chop the stalks.
Fry the garlic slices in a little olive oil until lightly golden, add the chopped herb stalks, fry for 30 seconds before adding the chopped tomatoes. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
For the chicken ‘Milanese’, Cut the chicken breasts into 3 lengthways, cover these slices with clingfilm and flatten to the thickness of £1 coin, by hitting with the base of a heavy saucepan (see the video of me doing this here!).
Put a couple of tablespoons of flour on a plate and mix with some salt and pepper. Beat the egg(s) in a bowl big enough for dipping the chicken pieces in. Put the breadcrumbs in another bowl.
Toss each chicken piece first in the flour, shaking off any excess, then dip them in the beaten egg and finally in the breadcrumbs, to coat completely.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and fry each breaded chicken piece until golden and cooked through.
Meanwhile cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions, until al dente.
To serve: roughly chop the basil and parsley leaves and stir through the cooked spaghetti. Divide the spaghetti onto plates, add a dollop of the hot tomato sauce and top with the fried chicken pieces.

Chicken Escalopes with Lemon Sauce – ‘Pollo al Limone’

A classic Italian recipe, often made with veal escalopes as well as chicken. One of my staple dishes, as it is really easy to ‘whip’ up. It’s delicious with baby roast potatoes (recipe here), but more often than not I serve it with plain white rice as when I make this I’m normally in a hurry and rice is quick and simple to make – also I like the way it mops up the lemon sauce!

By marinating the escalopes in the lemon juice for 30 minutes before cooking it tenderises the meat, you will notice the difference, but if I’m in a hurry I must admit that I often omit this part.

I normally cut my chicken breasts into three or four pieces, lengthways, and then flatten them out into escalopes by covering them with clingfilm and hitting with the base of a saucepan – not the most elegant way but it works! Alternatively you could ask your butcher to do it for you. Because you are flattening out the breasts, I find that they go a long way, so rather than 4 chicken breasts for 4 people you could get away with less depending on how hungry you are. If you haven’t any white wine to hand you could use all chicken stock, but the addition of wine does enhance the overall flavour.

*Watch the video here of how to make escalopes out of a chicken breast!

*To watch the video of this sauce being made click here!

3-4 chicken breasts (see note above)

8 tablespoons of lemon juice, plus a little more to taste (about 2 lemons)

40g butter

150ml dry white wine

150ml chicken stock (or 300ml if not using white wine – see note above)

1 teaspoon softened butter

2 teaspoons flour(gluten free if required)

1 lemon thinly sliced to serve (optional)

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

Cut the chicken breasts into 3 lengthways, cover these slices with clingfilm and flatten by hitting with the base of a heavy saucepan (see the video of me doing this here!).
Sprinkle the escalopes with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and leave aside for 30 minutes. Then dry with a piece of kitchen roll and season with salt and pepper.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the escalopes, fry on each side over a fairly high heat, until they are evenly browned. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
Pour the remaining lemon juice and the wine and stock into the pan and bring to the boil. Boil for about 3-4 minutes, until the liquid it reduced slightly.
Meanwhile mix the softened butter with the flour to create a paste – a ‘Beurre Manié’.
Add the butter paste (Beurre Manié) to the sauce, mixing well until the sauce is smooth (I often use a whisk for this). It will thicken the sauce. At this point check the seasoning, you may want to add a little more lemon juice, I sometimes add an extra knob of butter at this point – just go with your taste buds!
Return the escalopes to the pan to reheat, sprinkle over the chopped parsley.
Serve the escalopes with the sauce and the sliced lemon for decoration, and either baby roast potatoes (recipe here) or on a bed of white rice.

Leek and Chicken Risotto (Serves 4-6)

This is a fantastic recipe for using up leftover chicken. It is a lovely unctuous, satisfying supper dish. The recipe originally called for twice as much cheese but I really think that it overpowered the flavours of the dish so I have halved the amount and suggested that you sprinkle over more cheese at the table. As I like this risotto to be more substantial, I have doubled the amount of chicken the recipe originally called for – but feel free to reduce or increase the amount to taste (and depending on the amount of leftover chicken you have!). This recipe is taken from Rachel Allen’s cookbook ‘Recipes From My Mother’, as the name suggests it contains lots of homely recipes.

1.5 litres chicken stock

25g unsalted butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium leek, chopped

500g risotto rice, such as Carnaroli or Arborio

75ml dry white wine

40g Parmesan Cheese, finely grated plus more to serve (see note above)

2-3 generous handfuls of leftover roast chicken, chopped (see note above)

Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste

2 tablespoons of parsley

1-2 teaspoons chopped thyme

Sea salt and black pepper

Pour the stock into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to keep it at a gentle simmer.
Meanwhile melt the butter and oil in a large pan – I like to use a deep frying/sauté pan. Add the leeks and season with salt and pepper, cover and sweat gently until soft (about 5 minutes).
Add the rice, stirring to coat it in the oil. Then add the wine, turn up the heat and let it bubble to evaporate (about 2 minutes).
Lower the heat and now add a ladle of the hot stock, stirring continuously until it has evaporated. Continue to add ladle after ladle in the same manner until the rice is cooked and it has a creamy consistency. It should take around 16-18 minutes.
When you are happy with the texture (the rice should be al dente, retaining a little bite), stir in the cheese, chicken, parsley, thyme and some lemon juice to taste. Check the seasoning and serve with more cheese sprinkled over according to your individual tastes.

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