Pollo Alla Diavola Con Olive (Spicy Chicken With Olives)

Pollo Alla Diavola Con Olive (Spicy Chicken With Olives)

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! That's what Manly had to say about this chicken dish and I must confess I whole-heartedly agree. What a way to brighten that blank canvas known as chicken. What's really funny about this is that until recently I hated olives. All olives. Black or green, big or small, stuffed or not, pits or not. Can you say gag? But thanks to a trip to Florida and my mom I am slowly becoming a convert. She had these Marzzetti's marinated green olives (she gets them at Sam's club) sitting in her fridge and promised that even I would like them. I loved them!

I was actually able to find them in my local market so I decided to tackle a recipe that enabled me to use them. Now I know why people cook with olives! Wow! Guess you can teach an old dog. Well, not THAT old. I was also introduced to the idea of stuffing them with gorgonzola cheese...yum. So now on to the recipe. It's from La Cucina Italiana and it just plain ROCKS! I served it with some fettuccini tossed with the pan juices from the chicken and brussel sprouts roasted in the oven alongside the chicken sprinkled with lemon zest. Honestly, I could have lived without the brussel sprouts but Manly gets annoyed at me if I forget a green vegetable too many times in a week. This should definitely go on your must make list...promise.


Recipe: Pollo Alla Diavola Con Olive
From La Cucina Italiana
Serves 4 to 6

The recipe calls for 2 (3-1/2-to 4-pound) chickens, backbone removed. I was only cooking for two so just used chicken thighs. If I were using the whole chickens I would double the paste mixture for sure. Also, don't be alarmed by the teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. It some how wasn't very spicy but the flavor was wonderful. As I mentioned I used the antipasti marinated green olives that I mentioned earlier (there's garlic, red peppers and pepperoncini in them too) and then threw in some pitted, oil-cured Italian black olives as well. Use your favorites. No white wine? Chicken broth worked just fine. 

Ingredients
2 (3-1/2-to 4-pound) chickens, backbone removed
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh marjoram, oregano or sage
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Coarse sea salt
1 cup pitted green and black olives
1 cup dry white wine

Directions
Position rack in upper third of oven; heat to 425. Lightly grease 1 large roasting pan or two baking dishes with oil. Put chickens, skin-side up, in pan.

In a small bowl, stir together mustard, black pepper, marjoram, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Spread mixture evenly; season with salt (go light here until you know how salty your olives are). Drizzle each chicken with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

Bake chickens for 20 minutes. Sprinkle olives over chicken, add wine to pan and continue baking until skin is golden and chicken is cooked through, 30-35 minutes more. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let chickens rest for 5 minutes, spooning juices over the top. Serve with juices (liquid love is what I'd call it). Enjoy!

Serve with rice or pasta. I went for the pasta and was glad I had nice wide noodles to sop up the yum that was left behind in the baking dish. I made extra pasta and tossed it with the juices as well and had it for lunch the next day. Fabulous!

I'm seriously considering this idea for an appetizer. Half a roasted brussel sprout, sprinkled with a little sea salt and lemon zest. Have that with your martini! See what happens when I have too much free time? Pasta water takes forever to boil ;).