This chicken with olives recipe is a family favorite. I don’t remember the precise date it became part of our repertoire, but probably in the late 1990’s at a time when my husband, my daughter and I were very busy with schools and careers and being able to prepare a one-pan dish for dinner was a godsend. My husband often made this dish and it became a favorite of my 95-year-old mother.
Our recollection of the origin of this recipe is a bit muddled but we both seem to think it was featured on one of Sara Moulton’s Cooking Live segments. A college student living off-campus without a cafeteria and without much kitchenware called in asking for advice on a one-pot meal that could be cooked for a crowd and with several days of leftovers. As I recall, Sara improvised and suggested the caller prepare a quick and tasty dish by combining certain ingredients. Apparently, Sara’s off-the-cuff comments were not treated as a recipe and were not posted in the Food Network’s recipe data base. Nor have I found a comparable recipe in any Sara Moulton’s online sites or cookbooks. After watching the show, we reconstructed and adapted the recipe from memory, and it is one of our go-to dishes for family meals and casual company dinners.
In my view, what makes this recipe a hit is the intricate blending of olives, onions, lemons, rosemary and garlic. By the time this dish is cooked, the olives exude their juices which combine with the lemon juice, roasted garlic, rosemary and olive oil to become a luscious, umami-rich sauce with a more intense flavor than the traditional sour, salty, bitter and sweet tastes. In this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
This dish works best with an assortment of oil, brine or dry cured olives – black and green — like kalamata, cerignola, manzanilla, picholine or whichever you prefer and is available at an olive bar. While pitted and pasteurized canned olives can be used, they don’t work quite as well in this dish since pasteurization alters the flavor, color and even texture of the olive. I buy olives with pits because of their richer flavor and leave them in, warning guests of the pits. (By all means, the pits can be easily removed by squashing olives with the flat side of a knife or with a cherry pitter.)
A whole head of garlic may sound like it would make a very garlicky, strong-tasting dish, but that is not the case. The pungent taste of garlic emanates only after the clove is cut and the garlic juices come in contact with air, releasing the strong-smelling sulfurous molecules inherent in all alliums. But a whole uncooked head of garlic has no smell and peeled whole cloves also exude no offensive odor. In this dish, the whole cloves of garlic, scattered throughout the pan, soften as they roast and virtually dissolve into a sweet paste, providing a unique bouquet and body to the sauce without the characteristic strong garlic flavor.
This recipe has several advantages. It is highly adaptable. The proportions that I provide are those that I found work for our family but you can adjust them as you desire – more or less potato, more or less olive – would probably still produce a deliciously flavored dish. The other advantage is that the ingredients can be combined hours ahead, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated. Then brought up to room temperature and roasted when needed.
Chicken with Olives makes a complete meal, paired with a mixed greens salad and some crusty bread to mop up the sauce.
This is a BIG recipe but we don’t mind having leftovers. Chicken with Olives tastes even better when reheated in an oven for ½ hour at 300°F the next day.
Chicken with Olives, Potatoes, Onions, Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary
3-4 pounds mixed chicken pieces – approximately 4 each legs, thighs, wings and 2 breasts
3 teaspoon each salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pint assorted black and green olives with pits
1 head garlic
1 pound small onions
1 ½ pound small red potatoes, halved and parboiled for 8 minutes
1 large lemon, sliced thin
4 branches fresh rosemary or more to taste
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon sliced for garnish
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Remove skin and visible fat from chicken pieces. Cut breasts in half and remove tips of wings. Place chicken pieces in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir with a spatula to distribute salt and pepper. Set aside.
Separate and peel garlic cloves. Leave whole. Add to chicken.
Peel onions, if small add whole to chicken. If large cut into quarters attached at the root end and add to chicken.
Wash and dry potatoes. Peel if you wish. Remove eyes and blemishes with a tip of a knife. Leave whole if small or cut in half if large. Place in saucepan, cover with boiling water and parboil for 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, place in cold water for 2 minutes, then add to chicken.
Slice lemon into thin slices. Add to chicken.
Strip leaves from rosemary branches. Discard branches. Mince rosemary leaves. Add to chicken. Stir to combine.
Drain olives. Pit if desired and add to the chicken.
Pour oil over chicken. Toss to distribute all ingredients evenly.
Transfer chicken mixture to a large roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet so that ingredients are in one layer. Roast for 45 minutes. Then stir ingredients so they brown more evenly and cook for another 30 – 45 minutes until potatoes can be pierced with a fork and chicken pieces are browned.
Serve several pieces of chicken with a spoonful of assorted olives, potatoes and onions and plenty of sauce. Lemon slices, if too burned, should be discarded and may be replaced with fresh slices.
Serves 6-8.
Photo credits: Slava Johnson