Spicy Chicken and Sausage with Potatoes, Peppers, and Onions

This dish is warming, spicy, and complex. It is even better when you prepare it a day or two in advance, making it even more convenient as a plan-ahead meal for a crowd! The leftovers are great as a sauce on rigatoni.

By Julianne Parkis

This dish is warming, spicy, and complex. It is even better when you prepare it a day or two in advance, making it even more convenient as a plan-ahead meal for a crowd! The leftovers are great as a sauce on rigatoni. 

Serves 8

Ingredients:
2 lbs. red potatoes, cut in even bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp. olive oil (+as needed)
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, cut in bite sized pieces
4 tbsp. flour (use quinoa flour for Gluten Free), seasoned with salt/pepper
2.5 lbs. chicken breasts, cut/pound to even thickness
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 large sweet pepper sliced
3 large cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup white wine
2-4 cups chicken broth (+as needed)
1 cup jarred spicy cherry peppers, sliced
1/2 cup cherry pepper juice
1t oregano, chopped or 1/2t dry oregano 

Method:
1. Place the potatoes in cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until almost tender; drain, and hold.
2. Meanwhile… Preheat a large sauté pan and add 2 tbsp. olive oil and the sliced sausage. Cook until brown, remove, and hold. Toss the chicken in the seasoned flour, then brown the chicken on both sides in batches, and hold. Season with salt as soon as the chicken comes out of the pan.
3. Add 2 tbsp. more olive oil if needed and sauté the onions and peppers. Season with salt and cook until soft, scraping up the fond/flavor from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the garlic and cook one more minute. Add the wine and cook down by half.
4. Add in the sausage, chicken, cherry peppers and juice, chicken stock, potatoes, and oregano. Add extra chicken stock until everything is almost covered.
5. Bring to boil, and simmer 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Adjust seasoning as desired. Add pepper juice for spice.

Julianne Parkis is a Danbury mom, a chef trained at The Culinary Institute of America, and a certified nutrition consultant. For recipes and health tips, visit her website, homeawaycafe.com. You can email her at homeawaycafe@gmail.com.