Pollo al Vin Cotto - Chicken With "Cooked Wine"

Mario Batali's At-Home Comfort Food

From the kitchen of Mario Batali

Servings:4

Difficulty: Moderate

Cook Time: 60-120 min

Culinary superstar Mario Batali still likes to keep things simple in his own kitchen, using ingredients people can actually pronounce.

In "Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home" (Ecco), Batali presents delicious and easy-to-make dishes that are sure to please everyone.

He served up some of his favorite recipes from the collection for "Good Morning America" – chicken with "cooked wine," baked pasta with ricotta and ham, and Italian trifle.

You can buy bottles of vin cotto (which translates as "cooked wine") in fancy specialty shops, but it is quite easy to make a version of it at home. And it is a great way to use up those less-than-acceptable wine gifts.

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups red wine

1/2 cup honey

2 cinnamon sticks

3 cloves

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Salt

1 chicken (3-pounds), cut into 8 serving pieces, rinsed, and patted dry

1 large onion, cut into large dice

2 carrots, diced

1/2 cup green olives (such as Sicilian), halved and pitted

3 tablespoons raisins

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

3 tablespoons blanched almonds, toasted

1 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

freshly ground black pepper

cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes

1/4 cup Italian Parsley, finely-chopped

Cooking Directions

To make the vin cotto, combine all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan

and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1 cup (about 20 minutes). Remove from the heat and let cool; remove the cinnamon sticks and cloves before using.

In a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Season the chicken with salt, add skin side down to the pan, and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and carrots, and cook, stirring, until deep golden brown. Add the olives, raisins, capers, pine nuts and almonds to the pan, stirring well. Add 1/2 cup of the vin cotto to deglaze the pan, stirring up the browned bits on the bottom, then boil until reduced by half. Add the remaining 1/2 cup vin cotto, and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the vinegar and sugar. Add to the pan and cook, stirring, until the liquid has reduced to a glaze. Season, to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer the chicken to a warmed platter and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper, the red pepper flakes and parsley, and serve.