Chicken Scarpariella
3.8
(19)
The origin of this dish is unknown, but it's a common menu feature of many Italo-American restaurants of the red-sauce variety. In kitchen lingo, a shoemaker is a shortcutting, skillful hack; a shoemaker cobbles things, a meal, together from the meager things on hand. In Italian, scarpa translates as "shoe" and scarpariella is slang for shoemaker. The actual name for one who plies this trade is calzolaio.
In Chicken Scarpariella, a spring chicken is "hacked" up in to small pieces and quickly cooked with a few common ingredients.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
1. Wash the chicken under cold running water. Place chicken in a large bowl; cover with fresh water and sprinkle on 2 tablespoon salt. Refrigerate for 1 hour, to brine (this improves cooked meat's texture and moistness). Remove chicken from water, rinse again and dry with paper towels.
Step 2
2. Cut the chicken into at least 10 pieces. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and sprinkle with oregano. Add more oregano if desired.
Step 3
3. Warm oil over low heat in a 12-inch, heavy, straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven with a lid . Shallow fry the chicken in batches until golden brown, turning pieces gently with tongs as they brown. Transfer browned chicken to a platter.
Step 4
4. Add garlic slices to skillet, still over low heat. Cook gently, being careful not to brown garlic. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to platter with chicken.
Step 5
5. Squeeze the juice of lemon half into skillet. Add the lemon to the pan as well. Add the wine, vinegar, and stock. Increase heat to medium and bring to a boil, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Step 6
6. Return the chicken and any platter juices to the skillet. Bring liquid to a simmer; cover pan and braise chicken until fully cooked, about 8 minutes. (The small pieces will cook more quickly than the large ones, so you have to keep an eye on the pot so as not to overcook them.)
Step 7
7. Transfer cooked chicken to a serving platter. Add the rosemary, parsely, and butter to the skillet. Stir to combine and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.
