Chicken with Olives

This recipe used to be called Chicken with Olives and Pine Nuts, but then those toxic Chinese pine nuts infiltrated the supply chain with their metallic taste and their sensory issues. That coupled with a poor pine nut crop overall, has caused the prices to basically quadruple in the past year.  So the pine nuts are out.  But rumor has it that the new pine nut crop comes out this month, and we could see prices normalize by the end of the year.  Until then, you can enjoy this wonderfully moist braised chicken with or without the pine nuts. I had a few pine nuts stashed in the freezer from a previous crop year, but would have left them out otherwise.

The recipe, described by chef Lidia Bastianich, comes from the La Marche region of the east coast of Italy.  In the recipe, she recommends Ascolane olives if you can find them, but says they are only available occasionally in the US.  I don’t recall having seen them.  But, any brine cured green olive or oil cured black olive will do, or a combination of both.  My favorite way to make it is with the bright green, buttery Castelvetrano olive.  And, if you haven’t yet had the pleasure, please run out and buy yourself a pound as soon as possible.  Because you really shouldn’t live another day without having tried one.

My other favorite thing about this recipe is the mouth-watering garlic wine sauce that braises the chicken.   So be sure to tear into a loaf of Italian bread to soak up all the saucy goodness.  I also like the recipe because you can be pretty imprecise when you’re braising chicken thighs–anywhere from say 40 minutes to three hours or more will do.  I’ve also successfully made it a few hours a ahead of time and then reheated it just before serving.  So there is a lot of flexibility in the timing, and it is great for a crowd.

Chicken with Olives (and Pine Nuts) or Pollo con Olive e Pignoli
Adapted from Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy

8 chicken thighs
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
2 bay leaves
1 cup olives, pitted
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 toasted pine nuts, optional

Salt the chicken.  Heat a large saute pan with the butter and olive oil to just over medium.  Brown the chicken in the pan in a single layer, skin side down.  Once it reaches a nice golden brown, flip and brown the other side.  Do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan, to allow adequate space around the chicken while browning–otherwise it will just steam.

Now with all the chicken back in the pan, skin side up, place the garlic and bay leaves in the spaces between the chicken.  Add the white wine, bring liquid to a bubble, and then cover and turn down to a simmer.  Simmer for about about thirty minutes, then scatter the olives between the chicken.   Simmer, partially covered, for another thirty minutes.

At this point you can optionally evaporate the pan juices a bit for a thicker sauce.  I usually temporarily remove the chicken to a plate and boil vigorously for a few minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.  Then add the chicken back to the sauce, add more salt if needed, optionally sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.