Chicken Puttanesca

This is the first homemade meal I have had in a very long time. I wanted it to be special.  I also had a craving for something new and something quick and easy.  Demanding of me I know. I was looking for a good slower cooker recipe and ended up with Chicken Puttanesca in a wok.  It is kind of the same thing right? 

I actually never had chicken puttanesca before. I think it is the whole salty taste of olives that turned me off for so long.  The other night though it was just what I wanted.  Funny how those things change over time.

The recipe was pretty simple to prepare. Chop up veggies and chicken.  Throw in wok to cook in steps.  Make sauce in separate bowl.

In the end you put everything back into the work to simmer and merge the flavors. I ended up not adding the olives but I did include some anchovies.  Mr. J loves them.  I was OK with adding them to this dish because they melt away and you would never know they ever existed.

On the side you make a pot of pasta. My timing somehow got all off and the pasta was not quite cooked through when the chicken puttanesca was done. I am not a very patient person to begin with but let me tell you at 7:15pm and me being incredibly hungry it was so hard to wait. I almost just used the chewy pasta.

I was a bit disappointed by the overall flavor. I thought with the list of ingredients this would be a powerhouse of taste.  This was not the case although it was very good.

Chicken Puttanesca

by Adapted from Better Homes and Garden

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breast halves
• 1 14 1/2 ounce can tomatoes, cut up
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces fresh medium mushrooms, quartered (about 3 cups)
• 1 small onion, chopped (1/3 cup)
• 3 anchovy fillets, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (optional)
• 8 ounces spaghetti or other pasta, cooked and drained

Instructions

Cut chicken into thin bite-size strips. Set aside.

For sauce, in a bowl stir together undrained tomatoes, wine or broth, tomato paste, vinegar, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Pour cooking oil into a wok or large skillet. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking.) Preheat over medium-high heat. Stir-fry garlic in hot oil for 15 seconds. Add mushrooms and onion; stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until onion is crisp-tender. Remove mushroom mixture from the wok.

Add chicken to the hot wok. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until no pink remains. Push chicken from the center of the wok.

Stir sauce. Add sauce to the center of the wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return mushroom mixture to the wok. Add anchovies. Stir all ingredients together to coat with sauce. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes more or until heated through. Serve immediately over hot pasta

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