I love this dish! I love the way the fat from the chicken melts into the kale. The kale is soft and so flavorful. I also love that it very little time goes into making this dish, but the pay off is so big. I used pre-packaged pre-washed kale that I found at Trader Joes. All I needed to do was chop the garlic and season the chicken. So prep-time was about 5 minutes, and cooking time was 1 hour and 15 minutes. I can make this on a weeknight for my family, but it looks fancy enough to serve to guests as well. This dish goes well with mashed or roasted potatoes or polenta.
Here is what you’ll need:
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 4 pieces of skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper, some of this to season chicken and the rest for the kale
- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, some of this to season chicken and the rest for the kale
- 1 tsp. herbs de Provence
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 bag or two bunches of chopped and stemmed Italian (lacinto) kale,
- 2 and 1/2 cups of chicken stock
- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
Pre-heat over to 350.
Add olive oil to a braiser pan (oven safe) and heat on medium-high heat. Season the chicken on both sides with the crushed red pepper, herbs de Provence, salt and pepper. When the olive oil is fully heated, add the chicken skin side down and cook for about 5 minutes until golden. Flip over and cook the other side for another 5 minutes. Set the chicken aside and turn down the heat to low, otherwise the garlic will burn fast.
Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir well for about a minute. Add the kale and mix well while scraping all of the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan. Season the kale with the rest of the crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock and turn up the heat to medium-high again. When the stock comes to a boil, nestle the chicken into the kale skin side up and cover. Note that the chicken will not be covered by the stock. That’s fine. Put the braiser pan in the oven and cook for about 1 hour.
Uncover the pan and place the chicken on plates. Add the red wine vinegar and mix throughout the kale.
Sarelle Plays 