I was looking at a number of recipes I’ve made and was mixing and matching what I had vs. what I was willing to pay for. I was generally pleased with something called “Marry Me Chicken” but I am firmly against paying extra for boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I wanted to use a whole chicken), and I wasn’t pleased with the sun dried tomatoes and a few other points of preparation. I generally dislike trying to complete cooking in a skillet for irregularly shaped and sized chicken pieces, it requires a lot of poking with a thermometer, pulling out pieces and generally making a mess of the kitchen. After a bit of experimentation, here is the result.
The chicken comes out beautifully moist, with a creamy, parmesan base and a bit of bite from red pepper flake. Scaling the recipe for an amount of sauce to place over noodles and some pancetta to compliment the chicken with some umami pop, this dish checks all the buttons. So, It’s no longer “Marry Me Chicken,” but something a little more sultry.
Special Equipment:
Extra large oven-proof high-sided skillet, box grater, heavy kitchen shears, sharp boning knife, remote probe thermometer, colander
Ingredients:
- 1 fresh chicken, taken down to pieces (breasts, thighs, wings, legs)
- 1/4 lb pancetta, diced
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese (avoid pre-grated cheese for best results)
- 3/4 cup GP flour, for breading
- 1 bag wide egg noodles
- 4 qts water for boiling noodles
- 1 tsp kosher salt + 1 Tbsp salt for pasta water
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 7-8 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 6 Tbsp refined or filtered olive oil
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 oz fresh basil leaves
Directions:
Begin by gathering the red pepper flake, thyme, and oregano and place into a small prep bowl. Finely mince the garlic and place it into a small bowl. Wash the basil leaves and pat dry, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Chop the pancetta into small strips and set aside.
Rinse the chicken thoroughly and pat dry.
Using some stout kitchen shears and a boning knife, take the chicken down to it’s respective parts (breasts, thighs, legs and wings). As my wife prefers boneless and skinless breasts, I have removed the bones and skin for this application. Because of the size of this chicken, I have separated the breast tenders to allow for faster cooking.
Season the pieces on all size with kosher salt and pepper, and put the general purpose flour into a medium bowl to dredge the chicken. Place the extra large skillet on the largest burner on the stove and preheat to medium-high.
Place 4 quarts of water into a stock pot and turn on high heat to ready the egg noodles for boiling.
Place the filtered olive oil in the skillet, and dredge the chicken through the flour, placing half of the chicken in the skillet in batches, browning the chicken on both sides. Note: It is not critical to ensure that the chicken has yet reached 165° F (safe cooking temperature for chicken) as it will all be going into the oven for finishing.
Flip the chicken pieces when they become golden brown, and remove to a plate or tray and work on the next batch.
Once all of the chicken has been browned, place all of the chicken back into the skillet with the largest, thickest piece (usually a breast) set into the center of the skillet. Place a remote probe thermometer into the center of this thickest piece, and place uncovered into the 375° F oven on the center rack. Allow to roast for 15 -25 minutes, awaiting the probe thermometer to reach 165° F.
During this roasting time, gather the rest of your ingredients, including the heavy cream and chicken broth.
Remove the skillet from the oven when the temperature alarm goes off, and check a few of the other pieces with a quick-read thermometer to ensure doneness.
Remove the chicken from the skillet and place it back on the burner under medium heat. Add the garlic and pancetta for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to remove the fond from the pan.
When the broth reaches a boil, reduce the burner to medium-low and add the cream, red pepper flake, thyme, oregano and parmesan cheese. Stir frequently until the cheese melts and it reaches a low simmer. At this point, check for saltiness and adjust if necessary.
Once the completed sauce reaches a simmer again, add the chicken and the basil leaves to the sauce and allow to simmer for 10 minutes on low. This is a good time to put the egg noodles into the stock pot and cook according to package directions. Scrape the bottom of the skillet occasionally to prevent burning. The breading on the chicken will thicken the sauce.
Remove the chicken to a platter or bowl, and pour the sauce in another bowl for the table. When the noodles are cooked, strain them in a colander, and place into a bowl with the butter to prevent them from sticking. Serve the chicken and the sauce over the noodles.
Serves 6.
