Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
- 1 lb. asparagus
- 2 large green bell peppers
- 1 large onion
- 4 spring onions or 1 bunch scallions
- 2-1/2 cups fresh green peas or a 10 oz. pkg. frozen peas
- 1 bunch flat leaf (Italian) parsley
- Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated if you can find it (about 1/4 cup)
- 4 oz. thick-sliced bacon
- 4 chicken leg/thigh pieces
- A loaf of fresh, crusty bread
Shopping List
- Black pepper
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Fine or coarse sea salt
- 3 cloves garlic
Pantry Items
- Bread knife
- Chef’s knife
- Dutch oven
- Grater
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Medium saucepan
- Mixing bowls
- Paring knife
- Spatula
- Steamer
- Tongs
Tools
- Wine: A hearty Côtes du Rhône
- Dessert: Fresh apricots, halved, tossed with brown sugar
Suggestions
- When you walk in the door
- Get out Pantry Items
- Get out Tools
- Assemble the ingredients
- Don’t refrigerate any of the ingredients
- Open the wine
- Prep
- Snap the root end off the asparagus. Rinse well.
- Put the steamer into a saucepan over 3-inches water.
- Core and seed the peppers and cut into 1/4 inch strips.
- Peel and thinly slice the onion.
- Trim and thinly slice the spring onions or the scallions.
- Rinse and pat dry the parsley, pluck 1 cup leaves.
- Peel and mince the garlic.
- Cut the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces.
- Grate the Parmigiano Reggiano if necessary.
- Put 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano into a large bowl, along with the spring onions or scallions.
- Start Cooking
- Put 2 tbsps. olive oil in the Dutch oven and put it over medium-high heat.
- Add the chicken when the oil is hot, salt and pepper it. After about 5 minutes, check the chicken – if it’s brown, turn each piece.
- Season with salt and pepper and brown the other side for about the same amount of time.
- Remove the chicken from the Dutch oven and put it on a plate or platter. Reduce the heat to medium, add the peppers, onion, bacon, the garlic, and stir.
- Coarsely chop the parsley, add it to the vegetables and stir.
- Cook, stirring often, until the onion and garlic are translucent, about 5 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Put the chicken and its juices back in the pan.
- Reduce the heat under the pan to medium-low, cover and cook the chicken and vegetables for about 25 minutes, turning the chicken and stirring the vegetables around once in awhile.
- While the chicken is cooking, put the steamer over high heat.
- Have a glass of wine – you’ve earned it.
- As soon as the water is boiling, put the asparagus in the steamer, cover it and steam the asparagus until it is tender but not mushy, 6 or 7 minutes.
- While the asparagus is steaming, put 3 tbsps. olive oil into the bowl with the Parmigiano and onions. Stir it.
- When the asparagus is done, put it into the bowl with the Parmigiano and onions and toss it, very gently, so it’s mixed with the onions, cheese, and oil. Grind some pepper over it, and either put it on a serving plate, or serve it right from the bowl.
- Check the chicken and stir it. If it is dry, drizzle 2 to 3 tbsps. water over it.
- Set the table now. You can slice the bread, too, and take it to the table along with the wine.
- Strew the peas evenly over the top of the chicken, then stir them gently into the vegetables.
- Cover and cook just until the peas are cooked, which will be 3 to 5 minutes for fresh peas, about 8 minutes for frozen peas.
- When the peas are cooked through, dinner is ready!
