Every now and then, an ingredient that we’ve never used before will catch our eye. We immediately take it home and wonder what to do with it. A little research later, we often find a delicious recipe to try. When Jeromy picked up a stewing hen at the farmer’s market, I was skeptical. I came home, and a little search of the internets later, I found this recipe for stewing hen ragu. In the middle of the winter, what could be more comforting than a bowl of chicken ragu over polenta? The recipe itself is time intensive, but most of it is hands-off. The worst part is that it makes your house smell amazing as it cooks, but you can’t eat it until the next day.
I used a stewing hen, which is an older chicken and the meat needs a lot more coaxing to tenderize. You can also use a regular chicken, but you’ll want to increase the amount of tomatoes by another can since there is a lot more meat on a regular chicken than on a stewing hen.
The savory combination of rich chicken meat stewed in wine and tomatoes is brightened by adding lemon juice and parsley right before serving. Served over creamy polenta, this dish will please a large crowd or a small family with a lot of leftovers.
Chicken Ragu Over Polenta
by
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3.5-4 hours
Keywords: entree chicken tomatoes
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
- 3-4 pound stewing hen
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into thin wedges
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- ½ teaspoon red chile flakes
- ¾ cup red wine
- 1 can (28 oz.) plum tomatoes, chopped, with juice
- ½ cup water, plus more as necessary
- Pinch ground cloves
- Zest of one lemon
- juice of one lemon
- 2 teaspoon parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 6 cups of water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 3/4 cups of corn meal
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
First, butcher the bird. Remove the legs and set aside. Cut off the backbone and remove any excess fat around the cavity and wing tips. Set the breast on a cutting board, meat side up and use a heavy object to crack the breast bone, so that the bird lies flat.
Season the legs with salt and pepper.
Over medium heat, heat a Dutch oven or heavy pot.
Add the oil, then add the legs and wings of the chicken. Brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate, turn over the onions to avoid burning, then repeat the process with the breast section. Remove to a plate.
To the pot add the rosemary, red chile flakes and garlic. Sauté until fragrant.
Add wine and let it cook down until it has almost completely evaporated.
Add tomatoes, water, ground cloves, and lemon zest to the pot. Stir to combine.
Add the chicken back to the pot and cover as best as possible with the tomato, wine mixture. Add extra water if necessary. Cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down very low.
Stir occasionally.
Stew the chicken until the meat is tender and beginning to fall off the bone, 3.5-4 hours. The liquid should be at a easy simmer during this time. If the pot seems dry, add a 1/4 cup of water.
Let the chicken cool to room temperature in the tomato sauce and store overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, pick the chicken meat off the bone and add it back into the stewing sauce.
Reheat the ragu, add additional water to loosen if necessary. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Add lemon juice and remove from the heat. Stir in parsley and serve over polenta (prepared with this recipe).
Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Culinate.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Is it me or is the recipe missing the polenta? I LOVE polenta and really just slice it up and fry it so how did you prepare yours?
Whoa, you got me there! I completely forgot to include the polenta. I’m editing it now. Thanks for the catch!
The word RAGU just reminds me of that jar you can buy at the grocery store – your recipe just changed my definition! Thank you, this looks scrumptious! I think I might make it and pour it over spaghetti squash!
GiGi Eats Celebrities recently posted..Throw a Touchdown Pass at the Grocery Store
I think this would be delicious over spaghetti squash! Ragu from a jar, we used to eat that over ravioli when I was a kid–I won’t touch that stuff now!
Okay I am Totalllyy drooling over this delicious chicken! and I don’t really even like chicken. You have a gift!
Kammie @ Sensual Appeal recently posted..My First Day with Intermittent Fasting
you are so sweet, thank you so much!
We made this last night and it was SO good. We used a roasting chicken as they were on sale at the grocery store this week and skipped the refrigerating overnight. It was amazing. Rather than serving over polenta, we served it over our favorite egg noodles. We both agreed that this is a recipe we will make over and over again. And Emme will love it too!
I’m so glad you liked it!!