Italian style Chicken bake

[Snarlla]

DH and I came up with this one the other day, and it turned out pretty good, so I thought I'd post it:

~3 chicken breasts, without skin and bone
~ 1/2 large onion, diced
2 tsp olive oil
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can italian style chopped tomatoes, with juice
2 Tbsp brown sugar
~2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
basil
oregano
salt and pepper

Heat oven to ~350 F.

Add 2 tsp of olive oil to a hot non-stick skillet. Add the onion, celery, basil and oregano (to taste) and saute until they become tender and translucent. Add the garlic and saute a few minutes longer. Add the can of tomatoes with juices, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and bring to a simmer. Cook about 5-10 more minutes to allow the vegetables to cook more.

Spray a grill pan with pam and get it hot over high heat. Butterfly the chicken and salt and pepper to taste. Quickly sear the chicken in the grill pan on both sides and transfer them to a pyrex casserole dish. Pour the heated sauce on top of the chicken and put in 350 F oven. Cook until chicken is appx 170 F.

Yeild: ~6 servings

Serve with whole wheat pasta or whatever.

We decided that next time we do this we are going to add some zucchini to the sauted vegetables. I think that would go well. A little parmesan cheese would be a good addition too.

The NI I calculate (minus any added salt) is:
Calories 191.9
Total Fat 2.3 g
Cholesterol 68.4 g
Sodium 391.8 mg
Potassium 555.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 12.3 g
Fiber 1 g
Sugars 4.7 g
Protein 28.7 g

[LisaS]

I used to do something very like that in the oven with jarred marinira and then recently changed the method up for summer when I didn't want to turn the oven on.

I make chicken paillards and cook them very quickly in a pan with a little oil. They take maybe 2-3 minutes a side. I pull them out and deglaze the pan with a little wine and broth and return the breasts to the pan and top with jarred marinara and some shredded mozzarella and a little parm and cover just to make it all hot through and melt the cheese.

I may try your method sauce but stove top with the paillards and then just finish in the pan in the fresh sauce. Your sauce sounds great.

[Snarlla]

Originally Posted by LisaS

I used to do something very like that in the oven with jarred marinira and then recently changed the method up for summer when I didn't want to turn the oven on.

I make chicken paillards and cook them very quickly in a pan with a little oil. They take maybe 2-3 minutes a side. I pull them out and deglaze the pan with a little wine and broth and return the breasts to the pan and top with jarred marinara and some shredded mozzarella and a little parm and cover just to make it all hot through and melt the cheese.

I may try your method sauce but stove top with the paillards and then just finish in the pan in the fresh sauce. Your sauce sounds great.

Yum! What sort of wine do you use?

Also, I forgot the balsamic vinegar in the above. I went back and edited.

We also do a similar thing with salsa to make a mexi-style chicken bake. There we use some Pace Picante (medium) + brown sugar and dijon mustard. Just throw that over the chicken and serve with black beans and a southwestern style corn all over rice.

[LisaS]

if I have a red open or planned to have it I use that, if I have white open I use that, I've used vodka or sherry too. just a splash to get the good bits off the pan bottom not so much as to make it a wine-y sauce. The marinara goes in next for the real saucy part.

I do a Mexican chicken bake too - great minds think alike I guess. I haven't tried it with mustard & brown sugar - is that the recipe on the jar or something you just thought of?

[Snarlla]

Yep, it's just a recipe on the jar. We like it, so we decided to try to make variations of it, and came up with the Italian version. Next on the list to try is curry or Indian style.