Pollo Agrodolce (Venetian Sweet-And-Sour Chicken)

Submitted by Lorianne1

"This is my favorite dish from Bar Italia in St. Louis. I have been looking for this recipe forever and finally found it in a local newspaper."

 

• Ready In: 4hrs 15mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 1⁄2 cup balsamic vinegar, plus
• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil, plus
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 (8 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 medium red bell peppers, julienned
• 6 white button mushrooms, theinly sliced
• 1⁄4 cup golden raisin
• 1⁄4 cup dark raisin
• 1⁄4 cup pine nuts
• 1⁄4 cup sweet vermouth
• chicken stock, as needed

directions

1. Mix cloves, zest, 1/2 cup vinegar, mint, 1/4 cup oil, salt, pepper in a bowl.
2. Add chicken to bowl and marinate in refrigerator 3 hours or overnight.
3. Drain chicken and discard marinade Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add remaining oil and butter.
4. When butter melts, add onion, peppers, and mushrooms.
5. Saute until vegetables start to brown (about 4 min).
6. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to a bowl; keep warm.
7. Add chicken to skillet, with what was the skin side down; sear lightly.
8. Turn chicken, add raisins and pine nuts, and cook 1-2 minutes, until pine nuts begin to brown.
9. Add remaining 6 Tbsp of vinegar and vermouth; bring to a simmer.
10. Season lightly with salt, then reduce heat to medium.
11. Cook until chicken is just done and sauce is reduced to the consistency of a light syrup.
12. If sauce is thick when chicken is done, add small ladlefuls of chicken stock.
13. If the sauce is too thin when the chicken is done, remove chicken and continue to reduce sauce.
14. When the sauce is the correct consistency, stir in vegetables and add salt if needed.
15. Turn chicken pieces over to coat with sauce, then arrange on plate and spoon vegetables and sauce over chicken.

Reviews

[mrs mack]

Considering all the steps to this I was surprised it didn't have a richer flavour. It wasn't bad just disappointing I even added salt to my food a thing I rarely do. Also how long to cook the chicken was vague. My chicken was marinated for over 12 hrs so maybe next time 24 definately needs more herbs and maybe some garlic

 

[mmm...donuts]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for posting this recipe. My husband and I spent our anniversary in St. Louis last year and had dinner at Bar Italia. We both had the agro dolce and have been talking about it ever since. This recipe is amazing-just like the restaurant. I had to make two substitutions- dried mint for fresh and dried apricots for the golden raisins-due to the inadequacies of my grocery store, but the results were amazing. The flovor that the raisins add to the sauce is fantastic. I can not wait to make this again.