Tuscan Chicken with Olives and Capers
This is a combination of two recipes I found online in a search for chicken with black olives and possibly capers. They went through the usual process of adjustment: fewer squirrels (rabbits, in this case), less forethought/marinating, and more spices.
Total cooking and resting time is 50 minutes to an hour.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. chicken legs and or thighs
- 2 T olive oil
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (heaping)
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 3 cloves garlic, whole
- 1/3 c. white wine
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 T capers
- 12 Kalamata olives, optionally pitted and quartered
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450°.
- Rub the chicken with a mix of the salt, spices, and oil (or sprinkle the oil on separately).
- Put chicken and garlic in a baking dish or deep baking sheet, skin-side up if it has sides.
- Roast 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle with wine and vinegar and roast 8 more minutes.
- Scatter olives and capers in dish and roast 15-20 more minutes until sufficiently crispy looking.
- Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
Variants
I once tried the recipe with boneless chicken thighs, cutting it down to one step: put everything in the baking dish at once and bake slightly cooler for much less time.
I once tried it with chopped delicata squash, added in with the wine and vinegar (since that seemed to be the appropriate amount of cooking time).
Castelvetrano green olives work as a substitute for kalamatas.
You can toss all the ingredients plus two-thirds of a cup of water into an Instant Pot and pressure cook on high for about 20 minutes plus a natural release, depending on the size and frozenness of your chicken. You’ll need to reduce the water afterwards if you want a sauce, or save it for risotto.
