Roast balsamic chicken with smoked pancetta
Gino D'Acampo is in the kitchen serving up a sumptuous roast balsamic chicken with smoked pancetta with a spicy potato salad on the side. Bellissimo!
Pollo con pancetta e aceto balsamico (Pot roast chicken with smoked pancetta and balsamic vinegar)
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 large chicken, cut into 8 pieces 5 tablespoons olive oil 10 slices smoked pancetta, roughly chopped 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled and lightly crushed 3 sprigs of thyme 160ml white wine 160ml chicken stock, made with stock cubes 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
Season with salt and pepper the chicken pieces all over and set aside
Heat the oil in a big casserole dish, add in the chicken pieces with the pancetta, garlic and thyme. Cook on a high heat for 10 minutes until all the meat is browned well. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon and please do not be afraid that the ingredients will burn, trust me, this technique is used to release as much flavours as possible.
Pour in the wine and continue to cook for 1 minute allowing the alcohol to evaporate. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook for 1 hour with the lid half on and stir every 10 minutes or so.
Towards the end of the cooking time, if lots of liquid remains, remove the lid for 15 minutes to reduce it
Take the casserole dish away from the heat and pour the balsamic vinegar over the meat. Mix well to ensure that the chicken pieces are well coated with the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately onto a large warm serving dish, with lots of warm crusty bread
Patate piccanti (Spicy potato salad)
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 large potatoesSalt2 tablespoons olive oil2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed2 red chilli peppers, deseeded and finely chopped2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil3 tablespoons chopped flat leaves parsley
Method
Place the potatoes, unpeeled, in a medium size saucepan and cover with water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. Insert a knife into the centre of each potato. If they are soft, they are cooked. Remove from the heat and slice into 1 cm discs. Place in a bowl while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan and add the garlic and chilli. Fry for 3 minutes or until the garlic starts to colour. Take off the heat then pour in the extra virgin olive oil. Pour over the potatoes and season with salt.
Add in the parsley and gently mix all together
Transfer onto a large serving dish and serve hot or at room temperature.