Bacon wrapped chicken bundles

This originally came from an episode of Lidia’s Italy on PBS. If you don’t watch her, she’s awesome.  She owns and operates several (apparently very good) Italian restaurants, but she’s very much a kitchen cook.  Anyway, this is my approximation of what I saw since I only scribbled down the ingredients and added some things of my own. This would be great served with a green salad and risotto or even plain rice to help soak up the sauce.

Ingredients

chcicken

1 onion, chunked
1 carrot, chunked (or a couple handfuls baby carrots cut in half)
2 ribs celery, chunked
1 green pepper, chunked
2-3 cloves garlic
2 Tbs rubbed sage (or so)
1 Tbs rosemary
2 Tbs olive oil
5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
10 slices bacon
2 cups white wine or chicken stock
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
parmesan cheese to taste
kosher salt to taste

Directions
Toss the veggies, garlic and one Tbs sage in a food processor and pulse until minced.  Heat the oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Toss the veggies in and sweat until just starting to get soft. Remove from the skillet, place in a bowl and set aside.

Trim the thighs of excess fat, then cover with plastic wrap and whack with a mallet until they’re all about 1/2 inch thick.  Put a spoonful of the veggie mix on each and spread almost to the edges.  Fold into thirds and press down a bit before wrapping two strips of bacon around it, one strip each way, and secure with toothpicks.

Wipe the pan out to make sure there are no veggies left in it and heat over medium heat.  Put the chicken in, turning them when the bacon starts to sizzle and starts to render fat.  Saute for 5-6 minutes, turning to make sure that all sides are kinda seared.  While they’re browning, drop the rest of the veggie mix into the pan and around the chicken. 

Once everything’s sizzling, pour in the wine or broth and bring to a simmer.  Cook until the wine has reduced by about half, turning the chicken once in a while. Pour the tomatoes into the pan and combine with the wine and veggies (you might need to take a few pieces of chicken out in order to mix if the pan is smallish--I did) Add the rest of the sage and rosemary and bring to a boil.  Cover, then reduce heat a bit to keep things bubbling happily and cook for about 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Uncover the pan. Reduce the liquid in the pan to a sauce and season with salt to taste.  Remove the toothpicks from the chicken, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cover for a minute or 2 to melt the cheese. Serve with rice or maybe pasta.

China:  Royal Stafford for Air Canada

Posted by Mike on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 11:03 AM
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