Episode 245 - Chicken Thigh with Linguine

Описание: Today’s dish is what I sometimes refer to as a “throw together” – think the entrée round of Chopped where you have to use all of the ingredients in the basket. My basket included chicken thighs, some scraps left over from slicing and packaging duck prosciutto, and some grape tomatoes and bell pepper that had seen better days and needed to be used. It went sort of like this:

• Two boneless, skinless chicken thighs (because that is what I had)
• Fatty scraps from duck prosciutto (because that is what I had – any fatty cured meat product will do)
• 1/3 of a red bell pepper (because that is what I had), large dice
• 12 halved grape tomatoes (because that is what I had)
• 1/2 of a large shallot (because, well, you get it….), diced
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 1 Thai pepper (or whatever you want), seeded and finely diced (brunoises)
• 1 tsp Za’tar seasoning (or whatever you want)
• 1/2 tsp salt (plus extra)
• 1/4 of a lime
• Pepper
• Red wine
• 1/4 pound linguine

Render the fat from the prosciutto in a pan (FYI, my duck prosciutto recipe is Episode 115). Generously salt and pepper the chicken thighs and sear quickly in the fat. Take them out and put them aside.

Deglaze the pan with a little red wine and then add all of the other ingredients except the lime. Sweat them a little, put the chicken back in, cover and stew at medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken).

Start salted pasta water as the chicken is finishing. Uncover the chicken, squeeze on the lime, and cook down the liquid while the pasta is cooking. Once the pasta is almost done, pull the chicken and put it aside. Pull out the pasta and finish cooking it in the sauce. Add a little pasta water if necessary to loosen up the sauce a bit. Check the salt and adjust if necessary.

Plate 1/2 the linguine in each plate, place a chicken thigh on top, spoon the remaining sauce over.

It really turned out well. The theme is the spice blend. It is complemented by the acidity of the tomato, lime juice and wine. The bell pepper and shallot add some sweetness. There is the little hint of heat from the Thai pepper. And all of those flavors play well together – nothing overwhelms the dish. Not bad for a “Chopped basket.”