Since the demise of Gourmet magazine  (boo sob hiss) , its myriad supporters have come up with inventive ways to keep, if nothing else, the magazine’s recipes alive.  One of those is Gourmet Unbound, a monthly food blog challenge where participants create recipes from previous issues of Gourmet.  The only caveat is that the recipe come from the current month.  This gives about six decades of potential recipes.  As a longtime subscriber to the magazine as well as many dog eared pages… or post it notes…. or notes scribbled in front covers of Gourmet cookbooks adorning my cookbook laden shelves, I have decided to participate.  For January I chose Roast Chicken with Pancetta and Olives from January 2009.  At first glance, and as it was approaching 5:00 p.m., this recipe seemed a logical choice.  After I started tossing it all together, I marveled at my cleverness.  Fresh herbs from the garden, chunks of garlic and pancetta, a bit of olive oil and a notch of heat from red pepper flakes.  The addition of kalamata olives added a tangy note that was just perfect with this chicken.  And did I mention that it is a one pot wonder.  I like this recipe even more.   Another virtue of this recipe is that if you cut the breast into smaller pieces as the recipe suggests, it speeds up the cooking process so this is perfect for a weeknight meal.  I added rice pilaf (to soak up the juices) although I can definitely see this with a baking sheet of oven roasted potatoes tossed with salt and pepper, olive oil and some rosemary sprigs.  A few sugar snap peas and dinner was complete.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH PANCETTA AND OLIVES

From Epicurious January 2009 (Trust me… this is from Gourmet but the Epicurious is a story for another day!)

2 chickens (3 1/2 lbs each), backbones cut out and each chicken cut into 12 pieces  (I used a whole cut up chicken because it is what I had at home.  I did cut the breasts into two pieces)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp red pepper chili flakes

1 tsp. black pepper

10 cloves garlic, peeled

2 (1/4 inch thick) slices pancetta, cut into 1 inch pieces  (I used about 1/8 lb of pancetta cut into lardons)

1 cup dry white wine
24 oil cured black olives

Preheat oven to 450.  Put chicken into roasting pan.  Add oil, thyme, rosemary, sea salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper and toss chicken pieces to coat.  Arrange chicken, skin side up, in 17×11 inch pan.  Scatter garlic and pancetta on top and roast until chicken begins to brown, about 20 minutes.  Drizzle wine over chicken and roast 8 minutes more.  Scatter olives over chicken and roast until skin is golden brown and chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

3 Responses to “Roast Chicken With Pancetta And Olives”

1. katie says:

   January 4, 2010 at 11:16 am

   Yum! This looks fantastic – and fairly quick, too. I’ve been looking for new chicken ideas. Thanks for sharing!
2. Dawn says:

   January 4, 2010 at 12:32 pm

   You are most welcome Katie. I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor and cutting the breasts down in size really did speed up the cooking time. My picky daughter even liked it… although she did toss all the olives my way!
3. hungry dog says:

   January 4, 2010 at 3:38 pm

   I’ve made this several times and love it! the chicken gets crispy and delicious…yum. Nice photo!