There is never a shortage of chicken recipes and sometimes a few recipes leave chicken dry and unflavorful. When I came across this recipe for Chicken Canzanese in my Cooks Illustrated magazine, I knew this chicken recipe would be nothing short of flavorful and moist. This recipe for Chicken Canzanese calls for chicken thighs braised in white wine flavored with prosciutto (bacon), rosemary, garlic, sage, red pepper flakes and whole cloves. That said, doesn’t that already make your mouth water?…
Apparently Chicken Canzanese is a long time recipe that is said to originate from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Being that this dish has been around for awhile, you can only imagine how many versions this recipe has. The recipe I prepared was pretty straightforward. It starts with sauteing prosciutto (in which case I used bacon instead) and garlic together which will be used to flavor the dish. Next, chicken thighs are browned. A sauce is created by making a roux using the rendered fat from the pan, white wine and chicken broth. Aromatics are then introduced using cloves, fresh rosemary and sage leaves, red pepper flakes. The prosciutto/bacon and garlic is added back to the Instant Pot along with the browned chicken. Everything is then pressure cooked resulting in chicken that comes out so moist, tender and flavorful! I served this with Parmesan garlic orzo tossed with baby spinach.
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, June 2010
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces of diced prosciutto or bacon
2 garlic cloves sliced lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs & drumsticks, trimmed of excess fat and skin)
2 teaspoons flour
2 cups dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock or broth
4 clove buds
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, minced
1-2 whole fresh sage leaves
2 bay leaves
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
kosher salt
Plug in the IP with insert set in place.
In the now empty IP, add the rest of the olive oil. When oil is hot, add the chicken pieces, skin side down, and cook without disturbing for about 8 minutes or until golden brown. Flip pieces over and cook another 5 minutes. You may need to do this in batches. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Remove some of the rendered fat from the IP, leaving about 2 tablespoons. Make a blond roux by adding the flour to the IP, and stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon or spatula until fragrant, about one minute. Add the wine and broth, slowly, stirring to make a smooth, slightly thin sauce, continuing to scrape the bottom until all the browned bits have been scraped up off the bottom of the IP. If the sauce begins to lump, whisk vigorously until it smoothes out.
Add in the chicken, whole cloves, red pepper flakes, sage leaves, bay leaves, and reserved prosciutto/bacon and garlic.
Press MANUAL and adjust the time to 20 minutes on HIGH pressure.
Once at pressure, the display will reflect 20 (the number of minutes you initially set) and will begin to countdown to 0 minutes.
Open up your IP when the pin has dropped (allow a few minutes for this to happen).
Using tongs, remove chicken from the IP to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil, leaving the sauce in the IP.
Remove the sage leaves, rosemary stem, cloves and bay leaves and discard.
Press SAUTE on IP and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook the sauce until it has reduced and thickened. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, butter, and minced rosemary.
To serve, plate chicken and pour sauce around chicken. Enjoy with your favorite side dish!
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