I used
to make this recipe a lot when the kids were little, it was easy and tasty, and
the kids ate it! Although it resembles a stew, I often make it in summer. It
doesn`t require a lot of simmering and tastes fresh. Also, tomatoes are more
readily available in summer! I often received large boxes of tomatoes from the
surrounding farms in Japan and I would make this with fresh tomatoes. The
flavour is a lot more subtle than with canned tomatoes. When using fresh
tomatoes, it is best to peel them first. The usual way of peeling tomatoes is
to blanch them briefly in boiling water, and their skins should just peel off,
but I prefer to just peel them with a good ol` Aussie potato peeler. (Note,
this way means you lose some of the flesh as well). It is faster for me and
saves time. Of course, you could leave the skin on (as I used to in my lazy
cooking days!), but you will have to watch the family picking the skins out of
their teeth….
A lot of the flavour comes from the onions, and
this is the only dish where I don`t brown them first. The veggies are optional, and it tastes great served with rice.
Ingredients:
4 Chicken thighs,
skin on
1 Onion, sliced
along the grain
4 tomatoes, peeled
and chopped (or 1 can of diced tomatoes)
2 Zucchini, diced
1 stalk of celery,
sliced
½ teaspoon celery
salt
½ cup chicken stock
½ cup white wine
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Grated cheese or
parmesan cheese
(optional)
Chop the chicken
into 3-4 pieces per thigh. Coat with celery salt and salt & pepper. Heat
1-2 tbsps olive oil in a pan. Fry the zucchini and celery until soft, remove
from pan. Add the chicken skin side down first. Once crispy turn over in pan. Place
the onion on top of the chicken and pour the wine over. Add the tomato,
zucchini, celery, stock, bay leaf and season. Cover pan and simmer for 10-15
mins. Arrange chicken on a plate and pour some of the tomato mixture over the
top.
Sprinkle grated
cheese or parmesan cheese on top if desired.
