Chicken Puttanesca

40 minutes - 45 minutes

Serves 4. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see questions Lindsey has answered on this recipe

This recipe is from The Delia Collection: Chicken.

I have long been a fan of the Italian puttanesca sauce for serving with various kinds of pasta.

What I've now discovered, though, is this variation. This lovely gutsy sauce is also supremely good with chicken that's been sautéed first then gently simmered in the sauce to absorb all the flavours. No need to miss out on the pasta either, as green tagliatelle is the perfect accompaniment.

The Delia Onine Cookery School: Watch how to prepare chillies in our cookery school video on this page.

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Cooking chicken thigh recipe in the oven

Asked by: SueD

I want to double up the Chicken Puttanesca recipe but don’t have a casserole dish large enough to cook 8 chicken breasts on the hob. If I cook this in a roasting tin in the oven what temperature and for how long? Thank you

Answered by Lindsey: Hello, As I assume this isn’t going to be hot when it goes in the oven, I’d say 180C or 160C in a fan oven, for the same time as the recipe. I would cover it with foil for the first 30 minutes the uncover for the last 15 minutes. Kind regards Lindsey

Method

Begin by heating the oil in the frying pan until it's very hot.

Wipe the chicken breasts with kitchen paper, season them with salt and pepper, then add them to the hot oil and fry them over a medium heat until they are a rich golden colour on both sides. This will take about 5 or 6 minutes. Then transfer the chicken to a plate and add the garlic and chilli to the pan and fry these briefly for about 30 seconds.

After that, add the tomatoes, tomato purée, olives, capers, chopped basil and some seasoning. Stir everything well, bringing it up to a gentle simmer, then replace the chicken breasts in the pan, skin side up, pushing then well down into the sauce and basting a little over the top.

Now simmer for 40-45 minutes, uncovered, until the chicken has cooked and the sauce has reduced and thickened.

About 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, put a large pan of salted water on to the heat and bring it up to the boil – this will take about 10 minutes. Then boil the tagliatelle – put a timer on it and give it 5 minutes.

After that, quickly drain and serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over, the tagliatelle on the side, and garnish with fresh sprigs of basil.