Slow Roasted Chicken a la Michael Chiarello

I’ve been hankering to make this chicken from Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking for a while now. A call from a friend shopping at Marshall’s (who knows that this Flavorista loves Le Creuset) alerting me to a sale on their blue oval casseroles, cinched it for my dinner plans.

Not one to follow a recipe exactly, I added a few personal touches, including some slow roasted fresh tomatoes. The flavors went together beautifully and I am proud to say that EVERYONE in the family loved the chicken prepared this way. The kids ate theirs over egg noodles with heaps of the sauce. We enjoyed the tender chicken with a big piece of focaccia.

Slow Roasted Chicken a la Michael Chiarello

I used a really nice Chilean Pinot Noir that I had left over from a large party.

2 cups onions, diced
1 cup each diced carrots and celery
2 bay leaves
2 cups red wine
(Pinot Noir worked very well. Next time, I’m going to try a rosé.)
4 cloves whole garlic, peeled
4 cups crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 whole chicken (approximately 4 lbs)
1/2 cup minced basil
1/4 cup minced parsley

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat a large casserole, like an oval Le Creuset, and coat the bottom with olive oil.

Add the onions and cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots, celery and bay leaves. Cook for about 15 minutes. Add the wine and scrap up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic, tomatoes, salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Stir to incorporate.

Place the chicken breast side down into the the sauce. Ladle a bit of the sauce on top. Remove from the stove  and place into the over uncovered. Cook for about 2 hours, basting the top of the chicken with some of the sauce from time to time.

After about 2 hours, stir in the chopped herbs then return to the oven for another 10 minutes. If serving over egg noodles, use this time to make them.

For serving: flip the chicken over in the pot. You will be able to easily remove the skin. The meat should easily pull off using a fork. Ladle the sauce over the noodles then top with chicken shreds. Garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese and some slow roasted tomatoes.

 For Slow Roasted Tomatoes:

Slice large cherry tomatoes in half. Place them on a parchment lined pan. Sprinkle with salt and freshly cracked pepper and drizzle a bit of EVVO on them. Place into a 225 degree oven. If you have convection, use that. Let them bake for 3 hours or until they are shriveled around the edges.