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Chicken & Spaghetti

Mimi
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine American, British

Ingredients
  

  • A whole chicken, cut up (Idiscard the wings, no one since my dad ever eats them. When I cut up a chickenmyself, I use the carcass for stock and another day's recipes)
  • Flour to dredge chicken
  • Salt & pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 2 medium onions,chopped
  • 1 cubanelle pepper, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup white wine
  • 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 jars or 1 28 oz can tomato puree (or strained tomatoes, or tomato sauce)
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • red pepper flakes to taste
  • Two bay leaves
  • Handful of chopped parsley
  • Parmigiano Reggiano
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Cut up the chicken, or pat dryif already cut up for you. Salt and pepper and dredge inflour.
  • In a deep pot withheated olive oil on medium-high heat, add the chicken a few parts at a time. Brown the chicken, andlower the heat if it is getting too dark, too fast (about 5-7 minutes a side).Set aside.
     
    In the same potwith some additional olive oil, brown the onion on a medium heat for about 10 minutes. Fiveminutes in, add the chopped pepper. Add in the carrot for a couple minutes. Addin the minced garlic (I make a well of olive oil in the middle of the onionmixture and allow the garlic to cook for almost a minute before mixing into therest of the onions and peppers.)
     
    Make the heathigher and add in the wine.Scrape the bottom of the pan and loosen the bits from both the chicken and theonions. Once the alcohol has burned off and the wine is half its volume, addthe tomato paste and combine.
  • Add the chicken back in and addin the sauce and stock. Once the mix is integrated,season with additional salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano (if you like),and chipped parsley. Mix and toss in two bay leaves until boiling.
     
    Allow the sauce to simmer on alow heat, occasionally stirring and moving the chicken around, for oneand a half to two hours.
     
    Once slightly cooled and thechicken is taken out, use a hand blender to further puree thesauce to a silky texture, or take the time my mom did and strain the saucethrough a sieve (which isn't as tedious as it looks). Or, if a chunkier sauceis fine with you, skip this step and make the recipe even more of a easy one!
     
     
    Serve with spaghetti (homemadeor not), a little grated parmesan on top (even though my dad didn't:)and, if it is your want, some glasses of red wine and some family stories toboot. It tastes delicious cold or warmed up the next day.
     

Notes

Tips

  • A food processor makes for easier chopping if possible and allows for the sauce texture to be more easily achieved
  • The browning of the chicken is key, so don't rush this step. You want a nice even crust from the flour layer
  • You might find your preference if utilizing the last blending step: blender, hand blender, or strainer. Or nothing!
 
Keyword Chicken, Old Man's Chicken & Spaghetti, Spaghetti