»Back to Chicken
Peasant Style Chicken or Pollo alla Contadina
I use Portugese Linguica sausage and the
flavor combination is outstanding.
The main instructions here are for the slow-cooker or crockpot. You
could easily do this on the stovetop with some minor modifications to enhance flavor and texture. See those noted below.
What you need
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 small-medium red bell pepper, cut into quarters, seeded and thinly sliced
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- Leaves from 1 sprig fresh rosemary (4 inches), minced
- Leaves from 1 sprig fresh oregano (4 inches)
- 1 lb. Portugese Linguica sausage (you can use Italian or other sausage)
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (slow cooker) or 4 each skin-on, bone-in legs and thighs
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher or Sea Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup white wine
- water for stovetop/oven method
How to make it
- »«Slow cooker method: use skinless, boneless chicken pieces»«
- In slow cooker, combine onion, bell pepper, garlic, rosemary and oregano.
- Cut sausage into serving size pieces and place over vegetables
- Rinse and pat dry chicken pieces and place in a single layer over the top of the sausages.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over top
- Splash in the wine
- Cook on low for 7 hours until the chicken is falling-apart tender
- Remove sauce from slow cooker to a saucepan, leaving slow cooker on warm or low to keep meat warm
- Heat sauce to boiling and reduce slightly
- Mix cornstarch and cold water
- Remove sauce from heat and whisk in cornstarch mixture
- Return sauce to heat and cook until desired consistency (you can reduce the heat at this point)
- Serve chicken and sausages with sauce on the side or over the top
- »«Stove top or oven method: Use skin-on, bone-in chicken.»«
- Cut linguica into 6-8 pieces and split down the center.
- Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil or other fat in a dutch oven over medium heat.
- Brown linquica pieces, remove and set aside then brown chicken pieces on all sides.
- Remove chicken and set aside
- Add onion and bell pepper with kosher salt to the pot to sauté in the residual oil - you can reduce heat to medium low if it seems to be cooking too fast
- Add herbs and black pepper
- Pull and discard skin from chicken pieces
- Add wine to pot and reduce heat to low
- Return linguica and chicken pieces
- Add enough water to come just about halfway up the side of the chicken/sausage
- Cover pot and cook on low heat until chicken is very tender
- For oven, transfer covered pot to a 300º oven for 1 hour or until chicken is very tender
- Remove meat to a serving dish and cover with foil
- Reduce pan sauce slightly and taste to adjust seasoning - it may need additional salt
- Serve meat with sauce on the side or combine and serve over rice
You could thicken the sauce with some cornstarch or arrowroot powder
Questions about this recipe?
Not the recipe you want? Enter an ingredient in the box below: