Tender Mediterranean chicken with cherry tomatoes, olives, and capers, a perfect dish to mop up. And to think that once I didn’t like things cooked with tomatoes, but now I often use datterino or picadilly tomatoes, and I love them for preparing quick and delicious dishes, and this chicken truly is. It is prepared in a flash, first, I make simple chicken breast scallops with white wine, then I put them aside for a moment and sauté the cherry tomatoes with olives and capers. Since I had run out of my stock of preserved olives, I took taggiasche olives as a replacement, as the supermarket near my house where I stock up has everything except Calabrian olives. So here I am preparing this tender chicken for Sunday family lunch that everyone appreciated, it was much liked even by the kids just like the roasted pumpkin I had prepared as a side dish.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Mediterranean Chicken
- 1.3 lbs chicken breast
- 2.5 cups datterino cherry tomatoes
- 3.5 oz taggiasche olives or similar
- 1 oz salted capers
- 1 clove garlic
- as needed flour
- 1 glass white wine
- as needed rosemary
- as needed salt
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- as needed parsley
- as needed pepper
Tools for Preparing Mediterranean Chicken
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Skillet
- 1 Small Bowl
Steps for Preparing Mediterranean Chicken
Cut the chicken breast into slices, not lengthwise, but small slices across the width. Obtain at least 12 slices, not too thick, as chicken tends to puff up during cooking.
Place the chicken in a bowl, add flour and pepper, and then mix well to coat each slice thoroughly with flour.
Place the chicken in a heated skillet with a little olive oil, add some rosemary and salt, and let it brown on all sides, then deglaze with wine, let it evaporate completely over high heat, then set aside. This first phase requires less than 5 minutes of cooking.
In the same skillet, add a drizzle of oil and a garlic clove, and if you like, chili pepper. Add the olives, let them brown briefly, add the salted capers previously soaked in a small bowl, and finally add the washed and halved cherry tomatoes, working on the cutting board as for the chicken. Salt, raise the heat, and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
If you want the tomatoes more saucy, just cut them smaller. I wanted to leave them larger to find them with the chicken. When the tomatoes seem to be at the right point of cooking, add the chicken to the skillet, cover, and continue cooking together for a few more minutes, about 3 minutes is sufficient. This way, the dish becomes a blend of flavors, and the chicken remains very tender with this quick two-phase cooking, the first to brown it, the second to flavor it.
At this point, we are ready to serve, just add a bit of finely chopped parsley and the Mediterranean chicken with cherry tomatoes, olives, and capers is ready to enjoy.
