Marry Me Chicken

This recipe from Joy the Baker caught my eye for a savory recipe, and I finally worked it into our dinner rotation last week. It's definitely one to repeat in summer when my cherry tomatoes are in full production. For this, I used some cherry tomatoes I had roasted this summer with olive oil and garlic and then stuck in the freezer, so it was a win to clean out the freezer a bit.

Marry Me Chicken

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Pint of cherry tomatoes, halved

Sea salt and cracked pepper

2 lb. boneless chicken thighs or breasts (cut into even pieces if large breasts)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. crushed pepper flakes

Splash red wine

1 cup chicken stock

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp. water

2 tsp. cornstarch

Capers, to garnish

Preheat oven to 400°F. Use a 12-inch oven-safe skillet or pot. Place tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper in the pot, and stir to coat tomatoes. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once, until tomatoes have browned slightly and reduced some of their water. Remove from oven, and reduce heat to 375°F.

Transfer tomatoes to a small bowl, and set aside.

Sear chicken in the same pan after sprinkling with salt and pepper. Add a little more oil, if needed. The goal is to brown the chicken, though you don't need to fully cook it. You may need to brown it in two batches. Once chicken is seared, remove and set aside. 

Add garlic to the pan, and stir constantly for 1 minute before adding oregano and pepper flakes. Add the tomatoes back to the pan, along with a splash of wine (or other liquid) and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. 

Stir in chicken stock, and heavy cream and bring to a low simmer.  Return chicken to the pan, and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. 

Combine water and cornstarch to make a slurry, and add to the pan to thicken the sauce. If the sauce doesn't thicken, you can put it on low heat until it thickens. (I think I cheated and just whisked the cornstarch into the cream, which seemed to work just fine to thicken the sauce and skip a step.)

Garnish with capers if you like and serve with rice, mashed potatoes or your carb of choice. Serves 4, though I highly recommend doubling the recipe to have leftovers.