Fricasseed Chicken With Green Peppers

Marcella Says: Ideally, you should be using pork jowl — guanciale — that has been cured but not smoked. If you have a store near you that carries it, buy it instead of pancetta. Pork jowl is available online, but it is expensive unless you order a lot of other items, as it must be shipped express overnight.  In my supermarket, I have occasionally come across something vaguely like it, called pork side meat, and that would be good to use, too.

Cut each pepper lengthwise along the creases, remove the stem, seeds, and pithy core, then skin with a swivel-blade vegetable peeler. Cut into 1- to 1-1/2–inch pieces.

Wash the chicken pieces under cold running water and pat thoroughly dry with kitchen towels. Pour the olive oil into a 12-inch sauté pan, add the garlic cloves, the pancetta or other cured pork you may be using, and the chili pepper and turn on the heat to high. Cook the garlic, stirring it two or three times, until it becomes colored a very pale gold, add the chicken pieces and brown them on both sides.
Remove the 4 breast pieces from the pan, and transfer them to a plate. Pour in the white wine, and let it bubble away for about 1 minute. Add the green pepper pieces and cook them for 4 to 5 minutes, turning them over once or twice.

Add the tomatoes with their juice, reduce the heat down to very low, and cover the pan.  Cook for about 40 minutes, then return the breast pieces to the pan and turn them over once or twice to coat them well. Cover the pan and cook for about 15 minutes.  The chicken is done when the meat come easily off the bone, not any sooner. Transfer the fricassee to the warm serving platter and serve at once.

Ahead-of-Time Note: If you intend to have the chicken for dinner, you can cook it through to the end as early as the morning of the same day. Reheat it gently in the pan just before serving. You may also refrigerate it in a tightly sealed container for 2 or 3 days.  Bring it back to room temperature before reheating.