backyard grub: Slow Food Potluck

Today was the first Slow Food potluck I've attended. I had hoped to bring a lasagna using some seasonal veggies, but I never found a recipe that grabbed me.

So instead I found a recipe for Tagliatelle with Chicken from the Venetian Ghetto in Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. Except, I did change it up a little. I used orecchiette instead of tagliatelle. It was in the pantry, for one; and two, it just seemed to me that tagliatelle would be kind of wimpy next to the shredded chicken pieces. But that's just me. I kind of liked how the raisins and pine nuts got caught in the orecchiette. Also, I used golden raisins instead of sultanas. Those were in the pantry, too. I made this with some leftover chicken Saturday, just to test it out, and I used walnuts instead of pine nuts. Different but also good. If you're in a rush for dinner, this would be a good idea for one of those roasted chickens you get in the grocery store, you just might have to improvise a little for the sauce.

The entire dinner was fab-- roasted tomatoes, fish, flank steak, asparagus, several salads, a woman brought an assortment of homemade pickles (she let me take the rest of the dilled green beans home-- yum), and our leader brought some sourdough bread he baked in his brick oven.

Tagliatelle with Chicken from the Venetian Ghetto
(Shaun's notes in italics)

1 3 1/2 lb. chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
fresh ground pepper
leaves from 3 rosemary sprigs, minced
1/2 cup sultanas, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 pound tagliatelle
2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rub the chicken with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper, then place it breast side down in a roasting pan for about 1 1/2 hours, or until well browned, turning it over toward the end to brown the breast. It's done when the juices run clear, not pink, when you cut into the thigh. (If you're using a meat thermometer, chicken should be cooked to 180 degrees according to the food police. When I'm cooking for me, I cook it to 170 and then take it out of the oven. It will continue cooking and usually it reaches 180.)

When the chicken's nearly ready, boil water for the pasta, and salt the water when it boils.

Take the chicken out of the oven, allow it to sit for 15 minutes, then take the meat off the bone. Leave the skin on and cut into small pieces. (I just shredded the meat with a fork.)

For the sauce, pour all the juices from the roasting pan into a saucepan. Add the rosemary, the drained sultanas, and the pine nuts. Begin to simmer the sauce when you are ready to cook the pasta.

Cook and drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce, chicken pieces, and parsley in a large warmed bowl. No cheese, please.

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