Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook (18 page)

A
re you finally ready for dinner? Me, too! What are you making? You’re probably waiting for me to tell you, right? Well, I have eight fabulicious dishes right here for you: classic Italian chicken, fish and seafood fantasies, and plenty of beef. (Vegetarians, you might want to flip ahead to the next chapter. I’ll hook you up, promise.)

Hunter’s Chicken Cacciatore

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Chicken
cacciatore
is a “hunter’s” chicken because it uses mushrooms and herbs easily gotten from the forests of central Italy. I add extra veggies to my dish because you can never get enough of them into your kids! The longer you simmer the chicken, the easier it will just fall off the bone. It’s a long-cooking dish, but easy and so worth the wait! This would also work great in a slow cooker.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 skinless chicken thighs on the bone (about 1 ½ pounds)

10 ounces cremini or white mushrooms, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ½-inch dice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup hearty red wine, such as Shiraz

2 cups The Quickie Tomato Sauce (
page 22
)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch dice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Audriana’s Creamy Polenta (
page 47
), for serving (optional)

1.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.

2.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, red pepper, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 6 minutes.

3.
Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Stir in the tomato sauce, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven, and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 1 hour. Add the zucchini. Continue cooking until the meat is very tender and pulling away from the bone, about 1 ¼ hours. During the last 10 minutes, stir in the basil.

4.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Cut into bitesized chunks, discarding the skin and bones, and return the meat to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot, over polenta, if you wish, and garnished with a sprinkle of basil.

Roasted Rosmarino Chicken

****
(as long as you don’t eat the skin!)
****

Makes 6 servings

If you’ve never done it before, roasting a whole chicken can seem intimidating, but it’s actually soooo easy and so delicious! The secret is to stuff the bird with things that will steam it from the inside to keep the meat moist. I know touching raw chicken or sticking your hand up a bird isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but we’re not going to form fancy stuffing balls or anything. Just close your eyes, shove it all in, and know that when it’s fully cooked, you will be an official rock star! If you don’t want to stick your fingers under the skin, you can certainly skip that step (or call in someone else, smile real pretty, and make them do it).

6 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 lemon, halved

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (7- to 7 ½-pound) roasting chicken, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels

1 small onion, quartered

½ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio

1.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.

2.
Finely chop the leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs; you should have 1 tablespoon. Discard the stems. Reserve the remaining sprigs. In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped rosemary, olive oil, the juice of ½ lemon, and the salt and pepper; stir to blend. Reserve the squeezed lemon half.

3.
Slide your fingers underneath the skin of the chicken breast to loosen it. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the rosemary oil under one side of the breast, and massage the skin to distribute the oil as best you can over the breast meat. Repeat on the other side of the breast. Put the chicken in the bowl and rub the remaining rosemary oil all over the bird to give it a nice, full-body massage. Shove the onion, both lemon halves, and the reserved rosemary sprigs into the body cavity.

4.
Place the chicken on a rack in a metal roasting pan. (Don’t have a rack? Twist a long strip of aluminum foil into rope, and shape it into a large ring to fit the pan.) Roast the chicken, basting about every 30 minutes with the pan juices, until it is an amazing golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh without touching a bone reads 170°F, about 2½ hours.

5.
Remove the pan with the chicken from the oven. Tilt the chicken so some of the juices run out of the cavity and into the pan. Transfer the chicken to a carving board and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes, a rest that allows the juices to settle in all the right, yummy places.

6.
Pour the pan juices into a glass measuring cup and let stand a few minutes. Skim off and discard the clear yellow fat that rises to the top. Pour the degreased pan juices back into the roasting pan. Place the pan over medium heat and heat until the juices sizzle. Pour in the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up the delicious browned bits in the bottom of the pan. This doesn’t make a lot of sauce, but you’ll be glad you have it when you taste it.

7.
Carve the chicken, discarding the stuff inside. Lay the pieces on the platter and drizzle with the carving juices and sauce. Serve hot.

Devil Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta