Chicken with tomato, olives and mozzarella
So you’ll like this. My car’s been knackered most of the week, so shopping has been a little difficult. Hence, an uninspiring bag of chicken breasts in the bottom of the fridge was all that greeted me yesterday, on a mission to prepare something yummy for Sunday lunch. More rummaging produced a ball of mozzarella, still in date, half a butternut squash and a couple of onions. Oh. Undaunted, I set to work and the result wasn’t half bad. Good enough, in fact, to share with you. Brace yourself:
Chicken with Tomato, Olives and Mozzarella
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 large onion, cut in half then finely sliced
6 chicken breasts cut in half, or this would be lovely with big fat pork chops
1 tin plum tomatoes
Chicken stock
2 tsp sugar
Ball of buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces
Handful basil
Couple of handfuls black olives, roughly chopped
So heat up the oil (I like a knob of butter in there too, it smells so nice) in a large, heavy-based casserole (oh, for Le Creuset’s new teal range – I love it so). Bung in your chicken breasts (or pork), season with salt and pepper and just brown on either side. Remove them from the pan and throw in your garlic and onions, frying until translucent. Put the chicken breasts back in, adding the olives and the tin of tomatoes. I quickly whizz the tomatoes with a handheld blender first, purely because #2 doesn’t like big lumps of tomato.
Quick moan here: buy a decent tin of whole plum tomatoes like Napoli or something. Don’t buy those dreadful tins of chopped tomatoes – they’re so watery and you want a nice velvety sauce with this.
Add about 1/2 pint of chicken stock (I’m certainly no stock snob, I just bung a cube into the empty tomato tin and fill up with boiling water), season again (I know, but it needs it), sprinkle over the sugar, then give it a stir, cover it and put into a moderate oven (180 degrees) for about 20 minutes (30 if you’ve got fat pork chops).
Just before serving, stir through the torn mozzarella and sprinkle over the basil. As you serve it, try not to get too cross at the big strings of mozzarella chewing gum that tangle across the plate. Slurp.
EDIT: I tried this recipe with lamb shanks tonight – increasing the cooking time to two hours and leaving out the mozzarella. It was incredibly nice.
14 Responses to “Chicken with tomato, olives and mozzarella”
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Worked through lunch, Mrs M forgot to bring me anything, then I read this … proper tummy rumbles now ! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
This sounds scrumptious and is making me hungry already…
June: Not an olive fan? #2 managed to pick them all out which was pretty impressive – they do add a nice flavour though.
Baino: Spinach would be lovely in there – and I thought maybe some chopped bacon too?
Moon: Ah, back to your own blog today, I see! Sorry to make you rumble! x
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