My Italian grandfather Alfredo Marchese, often known as “Pop,” passed down his favorite recipe to me. I loved it when we prepared this meal while singing along to the opera! Serve with polenta or spaghetti and top with sauce. This sauce was made by my Italian grandpa for game, primarily rabbit, but I also like it on chicken. Mangia!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or to taste
- 8 (8 ounce) chicken leg quarters with skin
- 1 large bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery with leaves, finely chopped
- 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1 large bay leaf
- ⅛ teaspoon seasoning sauce (such as Maggi®)
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium and add bell pepper, onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to blend into the vegetables.
- Add crushed tomatoes, wine, allspice, bay leaf, seasoning sauce, salt, and pepper. Return chicken to the pan and toss to coat all pieces.
- Cover the Dutch oven and place in the preheated oven. Braise until chicken is falling off the bone and the juices run clear, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- You can use Worcestershire in place of seasoning sauce.
- If sauce is too thick, add some water during the braising time.
Reviews
EXCELLANT!!! I cooked this in a crockpot for 4 hours on low. Used 3 chicken breasts and 2 chicken legs because that’s what I had. I used 1/2 green pepper and 1/2 red pepper. Sauteed the veggies in olive oil and put them in the crock pot over the chicken. Mixed everything else together and poured that into the crockpot. Also added a can of mushrooms. Served over bow tie macaroni. Tell your Grandfather THANK YOU!!
The recipe called for 8 chicken leg quarters (that would be 8 thighs and 8 drumsticks) and it serves 4. I think this is incorrect. I tried with 4 chicken leg quarters and it all worked out fine. Otherwise it was just too much chicken for the dutch oven.
Delicious! I used thighs only and skinned them, and put salt and pepper on them before browning instead of later. I used Worcestershire sauce instead of the Maggi, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I’ll be making this again – thanks for sharing the recipe!