Mediterranean-style chicken with tomatoes and crispy basil
Deep-frying fresh basil in olive oil really brings out its flavour! The chicken is simmered in white wine with thyme, bay leaves and cherry tomatoes. Serve over rice to soak up every last bit of the flavourful juices.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 75ml olive oil
- 1 (25g) pack of fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 4 bone-in chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 250ml chicken stock
- 250ml white wine
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 475ml water
- 185g long grain rice
- 300g baby plum tomatoes, halved
Method
Prep:15min ›
Cook:35min ›
Ready in:50min
- Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook basil in oil until it begins to get crispy and has a strong basil smell; this will take several minutes. Scoop basil out of oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towels.
- Remove half of the remaining oil from the pan. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper to taste and brown in oil; this should take about 4 minutes per side. Stir in chicken stock, wine and balsamic vinegar. Season with bay leaves and thyme. Cover, simmer over low heat until chicken is done and sauce is reduced; this should take about 25 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, combine water and rice. bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Place tomatoes in the pan with the chicken, cover and simmer until the tomatoes are warm. Spoon chicken, tomatoes and sauce over rice. Garnish with fried basil.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(70)
Reviews in English (56)
Very nice - 24 Nov 2011
Amazing! Totally elegant in presentation and flavor they'll never guess how quick and simple it was to make. It makes the house smell wonderful too. I LOVE it with the basil. To avoid a "hay" taste be sure to fry the basil to BRIGHT GREEN and NOT DARK GREEN or Black! I'm updating because I have made this several times now and tonight the grocery store did not have any fresh basil. I bought a bag of prewashed baby spinach and fried it instead and then added 2 teaspoons of dried basil to the sauce as I was cooking it. It was just as good and the baby spinach is about half the price or less than the basil. Also definately don't try making this with anything but real grape tomatoes. Their sweet unique flavor is what really does it for this dish. AND COOKING WINE! My store was out of cooking wine and I tried using a medium dry white and YUCK!!! - 02 Aug 2005 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
DELICIOUS!! Restaurant quality dish! and I couldn't believe how incredibly easy!! The whole family LOVED this!! I used chicken thighs instead of breasts (we prefer dark meat)and followed the recipe exact. The chicken was super tender and full of flavor! As others said, the only problem is this doesn't call for enough rice. Double the rice to 2 cups, serve with some fresh steamed broccoli and you've got yourself an incredible meal!! This is a must try!! Thanks for the wonderful recipe Amanda!! - 22 Sep 2004 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)