Fresh Tomato Chicken Braise

Fresh Tomato Chicken Braise

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 whole chicken (washed and thoroughly dried, backbone cut out (save for stock) and cut into 6–8 pieces, depending on if you want to cut the breasts in half)
  • Salt
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 5-7 cloves of garlic (minced)
  • 1 carrot (scraped and chopped into 1/4” pieces)
  • 4 anchovy fillets (drained, patted dry and chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 6 plum tomatoes
  • 4 sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil, drained and chopped)
  • 1 large sprig of fresh oregano
  • 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1lb thin fettuccine

Optional

  • Pecorino romano cheese for grating

Directions

Trim all the fat from the chicken. Wash and dry your pieces thoroughly. Salt and pepper both sides to taste.
Heat the oil on medium-high heat in a Dutch oven and place in chicken, skin side down.
Brown on each side for 5–6 minutes, using a metal spatula to turn the chicken over, so you don’t lose the skin.
Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a deep plate or pie plate, as juices will collect.
Add the onion, garlic, anchovies and carrot to the Dutch oven.
Add the water and lower heat to low and cover to sweat the vegetables and make them sweet.
Scape up the bits from the bottom of the pan and stir.
After about 5–7 minutes, they should have succumbed and become tender and rich.
Add your browned chicken back in and blanket with the chopped plum tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, thyme, and oregano.
Cover and on low heat, cook for 7 minutes, stir and turn chicken over, cover and cook for another 7 minutes until done.
Remove from heat, covered, and let sit for 5–7 minutes.
Temperature on an instant read thermometer should read 155–160 degrees.
Meanwhile, cook dried fettuccine in salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain and toss with a little olive oil.
Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and the sauce. Pass the Pecorino Romano cheese and grater if you like. I did, my husband didn’t.