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!

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!