Published January 1, 2002.
Our perfect Chicken Vesuvio recipe would have to combine crisp-skinned, flavorful chicken and golden-brown potatoes napped in an assertive garlic sauce. To achieve this ideal, we browned the chicken until its skin was crisp, then browned the potatoes. We made a gutsy broth with wine, lemon, spices, and plenty of garlic, then baked the dish with the potatoes resting in the broth and the chicken on top of the potatoes, which kept the skin crisp and the meat moist and flavorful.
An equal weight of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, legs (separated into thigh and drumstick pieces), or split breasts (each breast halved lengthwise) may be substituted for the whole chicken. If you don’t care for chicken skin, simply remove it after pan-frying and before baking. A large, 8-quart Dutch oven with a diameter of 12 inches serves this dish well. If using a Le Creuset Dutch oven, heat the oil for an extra minute.
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