This is a great dish if you are having a family gathering for lunch – or for dinner, any night of the week. It would be wonderful to cook this in a wood-fired oven.
Note: the recipe calls for long green chillies, but I substitute them with long green capsicums instead. It also suggests grating three tomatoes. Now I have never tried to grate a tomato and I don’t really want to try, so I use half a cup of good quality passata.
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4–6
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 chicken thigh cutlets, on the bone, and with the skin on
- 3 tomatoes, grated, juice reserved, skin discarded (or 1/2 cup passata)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 25ml chicken stock or water
- 4 small Desiree potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 4 long green chillies (or long green capsicums)
- chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
- crusty bread and green salad to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken cutlets on both sides for a few minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from the pan and set to one side.
Add the grated tomatoes and their juice to the pan (or the passata), along with the tomato paste and garlic cloves. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir for about five minutes. Add the stock or water and mix through.
Place the potatoes in a deep baking dish, then layer the chicken over the potatoes. Add the whole chillies or capsicums, then cover with the tomato sauce.
Cover with foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with crusty bread and rocket salad.
Recipe taken from Turkish Fire by Sevtap Yuce
Discover the Turkish passion for food and life with Turkish Fire. Join chef Sevtap Yuce’s journey back to her homeland as she cooks her way through the dishes that make Turkish cuisine great. From simple street food best enjoyed on a bustling street corner to wood-fired breads, fresh salads and elaborate dishes designed to be shared, Turkish Fire brings you the best of what Turkey has to offer.
You can purchase Turkish Fire at cooked.com. Published by Hardie Grant.
Also read: Chicken Drumstick Cassoulet