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Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 360 Minutes |
Ready In: 370 Minutes Servings: 9 |
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almost four hours to cook. Almost 4 seconds to eat. Tender, salty, delicious italian flavored chicken. Ingredients:
3 lbs thawed chicken tenders (or breasts) |
1 (30 ounce) can crushed tomatoes in puree |
1 (10 ounce) can tomato sauce |
1 teaspoon tomato paste |
2 medium onions |
4 -6 garlic cloves, minced (or enough to make 3 tablespoons) |
6 tablespoons olive oil |
10 ounces parmesan cheese |
10 ounces grated mozzarella cheese |
1/2 cup water |
2 tablespoons italian seasoning |
salt (to taste) |
vanilla extract (optional) |
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.
2. Pour olive oil on the bottom of a 9x11 baking dish (Or a 9x13), or do what I do and use a disposable foil pan (Just be careful!).
3. . Place the THAWED chicken tenders (or breasts) on the pan, and try to arrange them semi-neatly. Add your salt and pepper at this time. (NOTE! The Tomato cause may contain salt, and so will the cheese. If you use too much salt, your chicken will taste like BRINE at the end. Most of the liquid will boil away, so the salt will be MORE CONCENTRATED.).
4. Smash each garlic clove with the back of a broad knife (A good way to take out the day's aggressions!) and add them to the chicken.
5. Open the cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce and pour them over the chicken. (Don't throw away the cans yet!) Add the tomato paste. Then take your water and swirl it around the inside each of the empty cans. (If you threw your cans away - no biggie.) This liquid should cover your chicken at least halfway. If it's more, not to worry. If it's less, add a little more water. If you choose to use Vanilla Extract, add this to the tomato paste mixture, but only a teaspoon or so. This will help cut the acid from the tomato.
6. Peel the onions, (You may want to roll up your sleeves for this next part. It won't be pretty!) and grate them like you would cheese, in a bowl. Be careful not to get any onion juice in your eye!
7. Pour the grated onions, juice and all, onto the chicken. Then top the raw chicken with half the parmesan cheese cheese and all of the mozzarella. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil (Poke holes in the foil to help steam release). Carefully place into your middle oven rack.
8. Cook for one hour, then reduce the heat to 300°F Cook for two more hours until fully cooked. If the liquid reduces by more than half before the chicken is cooked, add more water.
9. The longer you cook the meat, the more the flavors will intensify. (I've cooked mine for as long as four hours after the power hour . Oh, and No peeking!).
10. Once the Liquid has rediced by at least half, Take out the chicken, top with the rest of the cheese, and return to the oven for 15-20 more minutes so the cheese browns nicely.
11. Carefully remove the chicken and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes. (The chicken will soak up all that goodness!).
12. Once the chick has rested, take two forks and gently shred the chicken meat. After the hot tub bath you just put it through, that should be no problem! Serve with some rice or pasta and enjoy!
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