Gourmet Italian

Also known as Pollo al Mattone, this flavorful gourmet Italian chicken dish originated in Tuscany many years ago.

Of the many Italian chicken recipes out there, this one is unique.  I saw Emeril make this a few years ago, and last week Guy Fieri made it on his show.  What makes this method so fabulous, is that when it is done it will be a gorgeous bronze color with a super crispy garlic/herb skin and succulent, moist meat with an amazing flavor.

You will need two clean bricks covered with aluminum foil and a cast iron skillet (Le Creueset works fine).  The chicken must be “spatchcocked” – which simply means the backbone is removed. This is done with a knife or good sturdy poultry shears.

Once this is done, open the chicken like a book and put it on a board.  Now press down HARD to flatten the chicken out.  Now you want to marinate the chicken for at least two hours with an herb mixture.  You can use your imagination, but you must have garlic and rosemary, salt and pepper, lemon juice and olive oil.  You want to muddle all of these things together until you have a paste.  Rub this all over the chicken and transfer to a wide, shallow dish.  Now refrigerate, covered,  for at least 5 hours or overnight.  If you are pressed for time, you can let it sit on the counter for half an hour before you finish one of my favorite Italian chicken recipes.  Ready?

Okay.  Now have your oven at 450 degrees.  While the oven is heating up, put your cast iron pan over fairly high heat for a few minutes.  Add a nice coating of olive oil and put the chicken in, skin down and let it brown for about five or six minutes.  You can add extra garlic and/or rosemary sprigs if you like.  Now put the bricks on top and put it all in the oven for fifteen minutes.

Take everything from the oven and carefully remove the bricks.  The chicken should have a gorgeous color and should be cooked through.  Remove the chicken to a platter and deglaze the pan with some white wine and chicken stock.  Season to taste.  Let it reduce to a nice sauce consistency and pour it all over one of Tuscany’s wondrous Italian chicken recipes – Pollo al Mattone.

Of course, cooking this dish over a grill will only enhance the flavor even more, so you might want to try that method when you have a little extra time to prepare.

If you would like to see Maria make Polla al Mattone, just click here to watch her!  Mangia Bene!