Published May 1, 2007.
To bring the bright, flavorful ingredients that characterize this Italian chicken recipe together in a home-style, weeknight meal, we opted for split bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts that could easily be cut into halves or thirds to speed up cooking time. For our Scarpariello recipe, we needed to temper the heat of the hot cherry peppers, so we used fewer and removed the seeds. The final touch to this spicy Italian-style chicken recipe: After browning the sausage and chicken, then sautéing the vegetables, we nestled the chicken and sausage in the vegetables to finish cooking in the oven, which kept the chicken skin crisp.
This dish is fairly spicy. To manage the heat, adjust the amount of cherry peppers as desired. If you cannot find hot cherry peppers, pickled banana pepper rings can be substituted. If your skillet is not ovensafe, add the cornstarch mixture to the skillet in step 3 (instead of step 5) along with the vinegar and simmer until slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the sausage and transfer mixture to 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Arrange the chicken over the mixture and bake as directed. To make this dish with chicken thighs, increase the cooking time in the oven to about 25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of chicken registers 175 degrees. Serve with a green salad and mashed potatoes, orzo, or soft polenta, (see related recipe).
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