pollo nonna |
|
While edamame, kidney beans, and black beans are very commonly used in Hawaii food, cannellini beans are definitely not something you see very often. Until about three months ago, I had never eaten them before. What a find!
They hold their texture really well in soups and just taste good. For this dish, the process is very similar to Poulet Grandmere, but the 'bed' the chicken sits atop is all vegetables here. Just remember to take a light touch on salt because the dish will get a lot of flavor from the bacon. Good with hot rice or bread because baking gives it a nice sauce. |
4-6 slices of bacon, diced
2 packages of chicken, thighs and drumsticks, bone in and skin on 1 can of cannellini beans 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 onion, chopped |
1 big (but not Costco-sized) box of spinach or
|
Cook bacon in a dutch oven until crispy. Take it out and blot it out on a paper towel. Lightly salt and pepper chicken and cook in bacon drippings until nicely browned. If it's a little undercooked at this point, it's ok because it will finish in the oven. Take the chicken out and set it in a 9 x 13 baking pan.
If there are a lot of drippings in the dutch oven, drain it a bit, but keep some of the drippings. Cook the onion until nicely browned. Add spinach (or chard) and cook down. If it's too dry, add a 1 or 2 spoonfuls of the bacon/chicken drippings to Add cannellini beans, tomatoes, bacon and spices and mix together well.
Put vegetables on the bottom of the 9 x 13 pan and put the chicken pieces on top. Pour any of the extra tomato/vegetable liquid over the chicken. Put the pyrex pan in a rimmed baking pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. The baking pan is to catch any sauce that might boil over during baking. (This happened to me the first time, and it makes a mess of the oven). Eat with rice or bread to sop up the sauce.
If there are a lot of drippings in the dutch oven, drain it a bit, but keep some of the drippings. Cook the onion until nicely browned. Add spinach (or chard) and cook down. If it's too dry, add a 1 or 2 spoonfuls of the bacon/chicken drippings to Add cannellini beans, tomatoes, bacon and spices and mix together well.
Put vegetables on the bottom of the 9 x 13 pan and put the chicken pieces on top. Pour any of the extra tomato/vegetable liquid over the chicken. Put the pyrex pan in a rimmed baking pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. The baking pan is to catch any sauce that might boil over during baking. (This happened to me the first time, and it makes a mess of the oven). Eat with rice or bread to sop up the sauce.