photo credit: @sahxic < twitter
There is a common misconception about this Italian Chicken dish – Pollo alla Marengo. The story almost always appears when you read a recipe for Chicken Marengo.
There is a city in Italy, just south of the Piedmont region, called Marengo. This is where Napoleon defeated the Austrians in the early summer of 1800. Napoleon felt it was bad luck to eat before a battle, so the story goes that he was starving after defeating the Austrians. He supposedly told his Chef, Dunan, to scrounge up whatever he could from the locals and make him a fabulous meal. Dunan returned from his “scavenger hunt” with chicken, tomatoes, garlic, eggs and a few crayfish. With that, he created Napoleon’s signature victory meal – Chicken Marengo.
The problem with this story about the creation of a wonderful Italian chicken dish, is that Dunan was not hired to be Napoleon’s chef until well after the battle and there is no mention in any books of this dish until around 1820.
No matter what the true story is behind this Italian chicken dish, it is a good one with many variations. I find that very few of them actually incorporate the crayfish. Here is a version that I like that uses boneless chicken breasts, which makes eating it a little less messy.
Sprinkle four boneless chicken breast pieces with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Brown these in a few tablespoons of good olive oil over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes on each side and remove to a plate and keep warm.
Now add a few tablespoons of butter to the pan and toss in one chopped, sweet onion and a cup of finely chopped celery. Cook until tender and add 1/2 cup of good chicken stock and 1 cup of white wine. Bring this to a boil and return chicken to pan. Now add one 14-oz can of diced tomatoes. I like the fire-roasted ones for a deeper flavor. Add a cup of button mushrooms and cover the pan. Reduce to a simmer and simmer about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken to a serving platter and add 1/2 cup of pitted and chopped Kalamata olives. Okay, I know those are Greek, but I like the saltiness they bring to the dish. Also add a few springs of parsley and about 14 cup of fresh thyme leaves. Cook this for an additional minutes and pour over the top of the chicken. If you really want to be true to the original Italian chicken dish, you may add a fried egg to each plate as a garnish and tell the Marengo story! This is marvelous served with polenta, mashed potatoes, or pasta with a nice green salad and some good artisan bread!
Watch Chef Lucca make Chicken Marengo here!
Mangia Bene!
