Marry Me Chicken
This recipe is named "marry me chicken" because as the lore goes, if you prepare it for someone, you will end up getting married. It's definitely not "marry me" level good, but it's overall a pretty solid recipe. It's hard to go wrong with chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. I made some modifications to the recipe -- using boneless chicken thigh instead of chicken breast, getting rid of the butter (it was too greasy), getting rid of the sun-dried tomatoes (it was too strong of a punch). Once that was all done, I was pretty pleased with the result. You can also easily halve the recipe if you're making this for yourself. This goes great with some sort of carb to pair with the rich cream sauce; my go-to is pappardelle, but bread or other types of pasta would go over well also. While this certainly isn't "marry me" good, I would certainly make it again in the future.
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 35 min
Ingredients
> chicken thigh (2 lb, boneless + skinless)
> salt, pepper, flour, flour
> garlic (3 cloves, chopped)
> tomato paste (2 tbsp)
> oregano (1/2 tsp)
> red pepper flakes (to taste)
> low-sodium chicken stock (1 cup)
> heavy cream (1/2 cup)
> grated parmesan (1/2 cup)
> basil
Instructions
1. Flatten the boneless skinless chicken thighs with a food tenderizer. Season both sides well with salt and pepper. Lightly coat both sides with flour.
2. Cook the chicken in a pan with oil over medium-high heat on both sides until golden brown, or about 4-5 minutes on each side. Do this in batches if needed. Set aside.
3. Reduce the heat to low. In the same pan, cook the garlic for ~1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the tomato paste, stir until the color deepens, about ~1 minute. Add the oregano and red pepper flakes.
4. Deglaze with chicken stock and cook over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the cream, stir until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat if necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. Grate the parmesan and season as needed.
6. Place the chicken back into the pan and cook through, ~4 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken.
7. Scatter basil on top and serve!
Notes/Tips:
> The original recipe uses chicken breasts, sliced in half to ensure a more uniform texture. Even with this uniform thickness, I found working with chicken breast to be pretty unforgiving and led to some of the pieces to be a little dry. I prefer chicken thigh because it's juicier and much less prone to overcooking.
> The original recipe suggests using 3 tbsp of oil and 3 tbsp of butter, but that is WAY too much and will lead to a greasy result. It also suggests using sun-dried tomatoes but I'm personally not a big fan of the flavor, it's too much punch and kind of overwhelms the overwise fairly subtle flavors of the dish.