The chicken Marsala recipe provides tastes full of heat and freshness reminiscent of the region that is home to the Sicilian port renowned for its sweet wine.
You can cook the chicken in a casserole or in a pan. The vessel should be large enough to accommodate not only the chicken but also the potatoes and shallots that will soak up the flavor of the meat juices.
If you use a pan, it must be suitable to be put under the grill – otherwise you can of course use aluminum foil for protection.
Here’s how to do it:
The Recipe
Ingredients:
(for 4 people)
4 chicken legs (approx. 1 kg/2 lbs)
500 g (1 lb) new potatoes
3 tbs. honey
Cherry tomatoes
100 g (4 oz.) pancetta (Italian bacon)
4 shallots
Untreated lemon
Olive oil
1 glass red wine
1 glass Marsala
Salt
1 tbs. chilis (coarsely ground)
1 chili pepper
4 bay leaves
Preparation:
Wash the chicken legs and pat dry. Combine the honey, 2 tsp. Marsala, some olive oil, 1 tsp. salt and the ground chilis to make a marinade. Turn the chicken in the marinade to coat it.
Fry the chicken legs for 2-3 minutes on each side in the olive oil on a high heat, then remove from the casserole. Fry the pancetta and potatoes, then add the pricked chili pepper and shallots. Place the chicken legs back into the pot, add some bay leaves. Add some of the Marsala and wine. Place the tomatoes on top.
Turn the heat down and let the dish cook for approx. 50 minutes. Add more Marsala and red wine as required. Shortly before the end of the cooking time preheat the grill and then put the chicken legs under the grill for five minutes.
Wash lemon under hot water and dry. Take the casserole out from under the grill and grate lemon zest (only yellow part) over the chicken with a fine grater. Take the vegetables and chicken pieces out of the casserole, skim the fat from the sauce, arrange on heated plates.