Chicken Bastardo
6 servings
80 minutes
Another riddle for philologists: bastardo in Italian means "illegitimate" or, forgive the rudeness, "bastard". Why the innocent chicken got it so badly, we can only guess. In fact, bastardo is a spicy stew with lots of garlic and hot pepper. There may be even more pepper in the pan than the chicken itself. But there is no need to be afraid: the pods are put into the stew whole, so they give the dish exactly as much spiciness as is required for the stew to pleasantly warm from the inside, but not bake to tears. By the way, as Jamie Oliver, who brought this recipe from his Tuscan travels, advises, the pepper pods can then be removed from the pan, put in olive oil and reused.
1
Cut the chicken into pieces the size of a matchbox.
- Chicken: 2 kg
2
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet (which can then be transferred to the oven), place the chicken skin-side down, and fry for 15 minutes until browned.
- Olive oil: 30 ml
- Chicken: 2 kg
3
Pierce the chili peppers with a skewer and place them in the pan. Add unpeeled garlic cloves along with bay leaves.
- Chili pepper: 10 pieces
- Garlic: 20 cloves
- Bay leaf: 3 pieces
4
Fry, stirring for 2 minutes, then pour in vinegar, add half a glass of water, season with salt and pepper.
- Red wine vinegar: 100 ml
5
Soak a large sheet of baking paper, crumple it by hand, and use it as a lid for the pan. Cover the pan with parchment and place it in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 50 minutes.
6
Take the chicken, drizzle with honey, mix.
- Honey: 1 tablespoon
7
Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin and add it to the chicken. Do the same with two chili peppers – peel and add to the chicken. Serve with bread or pasta.
- Garlic: 20 cloves
- Chili pepper: 10 pieces