If you need to feed a large number, or if you just want left-overs for another meal or two, this chicken with a delicious sauce is just what you need. Serves 12
Ingredients
1 kg small brown onions
to taste salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
200g pancetta (Italian bacon), cut into ½ cm pieces
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 kg chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, and/or legs; breasts halved crosswise)
to taste freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup balsamic vinegar
¾ cup red wine vinegar
2 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
Method
- Cook onions in a large pot of boiling salted water for 5 – 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and let cool. Trim root ends; peel.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add pancetta to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 – 10 minutes or until fat is rendered and pancetta is brown. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to a large bowl.
- Add onions to the pancetta pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 – 10 minutes until beginning to brown. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes until fragrant. Transfer onions and garlic to bowl with pancetta.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add chicken to pot skin side down and cook, turning, until browned on all sides, for approximately 10 – 15 minutes per batch; transfer to bowl with onions.
- Carefully drain fat from pot and return pot to medium-high heat. Add both vinegars to pot and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Add broth, bay leaves, and reserved chicken, pancetta, onions, and garlic to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, for about 35 – 40 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken and onions to a large platter. Skim fat from cooking liquid and discard. Remove bay leaves, and season sauce with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and onions.