Chicken Rustica over Polenta

"I started with a recipe for Chicken Cacciatore and made several modifications to include polenta and cannellini beans - both hot trends in Italian cooking. The juicy chicken thighs simmer in a tomato sauce, and are then spooned over creamy polenta for a robust and flavorful meal."
 
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photo by CookinDiva photo by CookinDiva
photo by CookinDiva
Ready In:
1hr 20mins
Ingredients:
18
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Instructions: Brown bacon in large deep pan. Remove bacon, leaving 1-2 T. drippings in pan.
  • Dust chicken pieces with flour, salt and pepper. Brown chicken pieces 4 minutes each side in bacon fat; remove to platter when browned both sides.
  • Make sauce: Heat oil, add chopped onion; sauté over low heat 6-8 minutes. Add garlic, sauté 2 more minutes.
  • Add all other sauce ingredients and mix. Add bacon and browned chicken pieces; gently simmer 30 minutes.
  • Add drained beans and simmer 10 more minutes. During this last 10 minutes, make polenta.
  • Polenta: combine water and salt in a large glass microwave-safe bowl; whisk in cornmeal. Cover and microwave on HIGH 4 minutes; stir. Uncover and microwave 2 minutes; stir. Microwave 2 more minutes; stir in Parmesan cheese; sprinkle with parsley.
  • To serve, spoon polenta in a bowl, then top with chicken and plenty of the chunky sauce. Garnish with parsley.

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Reviews

  1. This is a very good dish, but the best part was making the polenta in the microwave. Now that I have discovered this method I will never have the sputtering in the pot burn me again! I browned the chicken and put everything together in the crock pot and enjoyed a great meal when I came home. This would be great with leftover chicken or turkey too. Thanks for posting another great recipe.
     
  2. My DH particularly enjoyed this (as I hoped he would because he is picky about chicken). Unfortunately we were not able to try the polenta because when I went to get the cornmeal out of the pantry, I found weevils! (Yuck!) I would have substituted grits if I had discovered the problem earlier, but I did not want to wait 20 minutes, so we just had with cornbread muffins I had stashed in the freezer. Very tasty. We will definitely have again when I have some fresh and properly stored cornmeal! Thanks for a good chicken recipe! FYI FREEZING UPDATE---I had 1 serving leftover and froze it (Aug 25). Thawed and microwaved it for lunch Oct. 4, and it was excellent!
     
  3. I was having a "try new things" day today. I never had polenta before or plantains, but I served both tonight for dinner. An odd match but good non the less! I scaled down the chicken to use one boneless skinless chicken breast, but keep the polenta the same because I did not want to mess with what I did not know lol, and I am GLAD I didnt! Most of the polenta was eaten by just me and my mother. Also fresh grated good quality parm. cheese and wine is a must for this recipe I feel. The sauce itself was divine, but I did leave out the olives since my mother truly hates them. I plan on making this again, and making polenta a lot mre often. Thank you for bringing a new dish into my familys home!
     
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Tweaks

  1. My DH particularly enjoyed this (as I hoped he would because he is picky about chicken). Unfortunately we were not able to try the polenta because when I went to get the cornmeal out of the pantry, I found weevils! (Yuck!) I would have substituted grits if I had discovered the problem earlier, but I did not want to wait 20 minutes, so we just had with cornbread muffins I had stashed in the freezer. Very tasty. We will definitely have again when I have some fresh and properly stored cornmeal! Thanks for a good chicken recipe! FYI FREEZING UPDATE---I had 1 serving leftover and froze it (Aug 25). Thawed and microwaved it for lunch Oct. 4, and it was excellent!
     

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