Braised Chicken with Pumpkin, Sage, & Walnuts
"Delicious winter dish. Pretty easy to make, yet is definitely a dish you can serve to company. The braising adds moistness and flavor. You can tweak this one quite a bit to suit your taste (add wine to the stock, more pepper, a mix of winter root vegetables instead of pumpkin, different nuts or spices, etc). Adapted from a recipe by Michael Lomonaco, chef of the former "Windows on the World" which was in one of the NYC World Trade Center towers."
- Ready In:
- 2hrs
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 1 small chicken or 1 medium chicken, cut into serving pieces (or your favorite mix of chicken parts)
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1⁄2 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 2 1⁄2 cups peeled seeded and diced pumpkin or 2 1/2 cups butternut squash
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 1⁄2 cups hot chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves or 1 tablespoon dried sage, plus some for garnish (optional)
- 1⁄2 cup finely chopped walnuts, plus some for garnish (optional)
directions
- Generously sprinkle chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Over medium heat, melt olive oil and butter in a large pan that you can fit all chicken pieces in without crowding.
- (Note: pan must have a lid) Add chicken, skin side down, and cook slowly until chicken is golden brown color.
- Turn pieces over, add onions, carrots, and pumpkin and cook until chicken is golden brown.
- Once the chicken is browned, let it and the vegetables cook slowly together for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add about 1 3/4 c of hot stock and simmer over low heat for 30-35 minutes, slightly uncovered, checking occasionally to add more stock, if needed.
- Transfer chicken pieces to a large serving platter.
- Add walnuts and sage to the pot and cook for two minutes.
- Spoon vegetables onto the serving platter around the chicken, and pour the remaining sauce in the pot over the chicken.
- Sprinkle reserved sage and walnuts over the dish to garnish.
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Reviews
-
Oh, I can see this becoming a winter-time favourite. Lovely flavours developed. With the veggies cooking down into a sweet mass. I was a bit sceptical at first with the combination of ingredients, but my fil had given me a huge squash and it needed to be used up. I'm so glad I made this as sometimes you can only be turned into a believer by actually trying. Do try this recipe atleast once this winter! -
I liked this recipe. I did make a few changes. I used chicken thighs without the skin, left out the carrots and added some whole peeled garlic cloves to the chicken while it was cooking, because I like garlic. The recipe states to dice the squash, and to me that translates as pretty small pieces. With the cook time I was worried it would get too mushy if it was too small, so I cut the squash into about 2 inch pieces and they came out perfect. At the end my broth was very thin, not really a sauce, so after removing the chicken I removed the squash as well, raised the heat to high and let it reduce and ended up with a great consistency, then tossed in the walnuts. I also mashed the garlic cloves I used into the sauce while it was reducing, as it needed some extra oomph for me, and that did the trick. The walnuts make this dish in my opinion. Thanks for posting. -
These flavors were excellent. The squash and carrots both added sweetness- I did add a good pinch of thyme to help round out the sage and ease the sweet flavor, and I think it was a good addition. I also toasted the nuts for more flavor and texture. I bought a large squash and there was a total of 8 cups. Delicious- this will be prepared often.
