This dish from Southern France is packed with flavour but is very light. This sauce also goes perfectly with halibut, sablefish, or lobster.
Roast Chicken with Tomatoes, Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Capers
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper
- 6 large free-range organic chicken legs, thighs attached
- 2 tsp (10 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups (500 mL) dark chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) drained capers
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) pitted and halved kalamata olives
- 1 tsp (5 mL) minced garlic
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) mixed herbs (equal amounts of parsley, chives, and tarragon)
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 butter-braised tomatoes cut in half
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish (optional)
Directions
01
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C).
02
Rub red bell pepper with a little vegetable oil, place in baking pan, and roast in oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until skin blisters. Leave oven on, but remove pepper and transfer to a bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes so skin will loosen. Peel red pepper, remove and discard seeds, then chop coarsely.
03
Season chicken generously with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Heat olive oil in large ovenproof frying pan on high heat. Add chicken legs, skin side down, and sear for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden. Turn chicken over. Place pan in oven for about 25 minutes, basting with drippings every 5 minutes, until done (juice should run clear when pricked with sharp knife). Remove from oven and allow to rest so juice stays in meat.
04
To make sauce, place stock, roasted red pepper, capers, olives, and garlic in large saucepan on high heat. (Do not use small saucepan, as you will be reducing the sauce, and a larger surface area speeds this up.) Cook for about 3 minutes, or until stock is reduced by half. Just before serving, gently stir in mixed herbs, oil, and tomatoes. Season with salt and freshly ground white pepper.
05
Place a piece of chicken in each of six warmed bowls. Spoon sauce over chicken, making sure that each serving gets two tomato halves. Drizzle a bit of extra-virgin olive oil over each serving.
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