Chicken Puttanesca
I have long
been a fan of the Italian puttanesca sauce for serving with various kinds of pasta.
What I've now discovered, though, is this variation. This lovely gutsy sauce is
also supremely good with chicken
that's been sautéed first then gently simmered in the sauce to absorb all the
flavours. No need to miss out on the pasta either, as green tagliatelle
is the perfect accompaniment.
Serves : 4
Ingredients:
4 Part-Boned Chicken Breasts, skin
on, weighing about 8oz / 225g each
2 tbsp Extra Virgin
Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic,
crushed
1 Fresh Red
Chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 x 400g Tin Italian Chopped Tomatoes
1 Rounded
tbsp Tomato Purée
6oz / 175g Pitted Black
Olives, roughly chopped
1 Heaped tbsp Capers,
rinsed and drained
1 Level tbsp Chopped Fresh Basil
Salt and Freshly
Milled Black Pepper
TO SERVE:
12oz / 350g Spinach Tagliatelle
Extra Sprigs Fresh Basil
Instructions:
1.
Begin by
heating the oil
in the frying pan until it's very hot.
2.
Wipe the chicken breasts with
kitchen paper, season them with salt and pepper, then add them
to the hot oil
and fry them over a medium heat until they are a rich golden colour on both
sides. This will take about 5 or 6 minutes.
3.
Then
transfer the chicken
to a plate and add the garlic
and chilli
to the pan and fry these briefly for about 30 seconds.
4.
After
that, add the tomatoes,
tomato purée, olives, capers, chopped basil and some
seasoning.
5.
Stir
everything well, bringing it up to a gentle simmer, then replace the chicken breasts in the
pan, skin side up, pushing then well down into the sauce and basting a little
over the top.
6.
Now simmer
for 40 – 45 minutes, uncovered, until the chicken has cooked and
the sauce has reduced and thickened.
7.
About 15
minutes before the end of the cooking time, put a large pan of salted water on
to the heat and bring it up to the boil – this will take about 10 minutes.
8.
Then boil
the tagliatelle
– put a timer on it and give it 5 minutes.
9.
After
that, quickly drain and serve the chicken with the sauce
spooned over, the tagliatelle
on the side, and garnish with fresh sprigs of basil.
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