Do you like chicken fricassée? How about chicken dumplings? Well, I happen to love 'em both, "equally", as my mother would say when asked about her 3 children...
Last night I made chicken fricassee with dumplings for a comfy weeknight meal. It's a classic dish made easy. Rather than making my own dumplings, I used store bought DeCecco potato gnocchi which is as good as homemade. Plus, my easy chicken fricassee recipe transcends three cultures, starting with French to America and back across the pond to Italy. (I always associate chicken and dumplings with Southern comfort food.)
By the way, this melting pot of yummy soulfulness tastes even better the next day. Heck, I just filed this under easy chicken recipe as a 1-pot meal.
Serves: 6 to 8
Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 55 mins
Ingredients
4 pounds of chicken pieces (I prefer thighs, but breasts is also good)
2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed & chopped
1 cup chopped celery with leaves
1 cup of carrots, chopped diagnoally
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups chicken broth or water
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 package of gnocchi
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup of bell peppers, chopped in 1-inch pieces
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Preparation
- In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken on all sides, in separate batches to avoid crowding, for approx. 8-10 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.
- Deglaze pot with white wine while scrapping the tasty bits. Sauté onion for about 3 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic, celery, carrots, cayenne, and bay leaves to sauté for 2 minutes.
- Return chicken to the Dutch oven. Add 2 cups of broth or water, perferably heated to maintain a consistent temperature in the pot, and cover to bring it to boil before reducing to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is just cooked yet tender.
- Remove chicken from the Dutch oven and let it cool before removing meat from bones. Cut into bit size.
- While chicken is cooling, cook the gnoochi as instruction indicted but in only half the time (approx. 5-6 minutes). Drain and set aside.
- Add mushroom soup and remaining broth or water. Return chicken to the Dutch oven. Add gnocchi, bell peppers, and Worcestershire sauce. Raise heat to medium-high to finish cooking gnocchi until thickened and bubbly. Stir to combine and keep gnocchi from sticking to the bottom of pot. Salt and pepper to taste.
