Food is so connected to our deepest memories. When I read chef Mario DiBiase’s Instagram post for Chicken Scarpariello (Shoemakers Chicken), I was instantly transported to my grandmother’s kitchen when I was a kid. I didn’t know the name of the dish, she learned the recipe from her southern Italian neighbors, and she just called it “Chicken, Sausage, and Peppers”, but I still remember the fragrance of the dish! Chef Mario’s recipe is a bit more complicated with more heat than some of the simpler ‘scarpariello recipes I researched, but the extra ingredients are well worth it and add to the rich, tangy, spicy complexity of the sauce. Whatever you choose to call it, this fragrant, colorful, and delicious piquant Italian chicken dish is a great recipe to add to your kitchen repertoire. You can adjust the heat by increasing or decreasing the hot vs. sweet peppers. The recipe does require vinegar from pickled peppers. Serve with roasted potatoes or atop a wide fresh noodle like Pappardelle with sautéed Romano beans on the side to make it a true feast! Don’t forget the crusty bread to sop up the truly wonderful sauce. Buon appetito!

Pollo Scarpariello (Shoe Maker’s Chicken)
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in thighs with skin (or 6-8 wings separated at the joint, wingtip removed)

• Salt and pepper

• 3 links sweet Italian sausage

• olive oil

• 6 cloves garlic-crushed

• 2 large onions-large dice

• 6 pickled hot cherry peppers cored and quartered (optional sub pepperoncini if you can’t find hot-cherry peppers)

• 12 pickled sweet cherry peppers +1/4c vinegar from jar cored and quartered (sub any mild pickled pepper like Peppadew)

• 1 red bell pepper-cored and large dice (for more color use a combination of small red, yellow, and orange sweet peppers- 2 each)

• 1 green Poblano pepper-cored and large dice (optional sub an Anaheim or the milder Cubanelle/Italian frying pepper)

• ½ cup small marinated artichoke hearts

• 1 teaspoon dry oregano (sub a sprig of rosemary when you place the pan in the oven)

• 2 cups wine

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 F

1. Season the thighs with salt and pepper.
2. In a heavy oven-proof pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and garlic until just beginning to brown. Remove the garlic and set aside.
3. Add the chicken and sausage to the pan. Brown well on all sides. Remove and set aside. Slice the sausage into ½ inch coins. Tent the chicken and sausage.
4. Add the onions, fresh peppers, and garlic to the pan. Sauté until tender and browning.
5. Add white wine to the pan. Deglaze, scraping up the fond as wine reduces to about 2/3.
6. Add the vinegared peppers along with the juice and the artichoke hearts. Season with oregano (or rosemary) and adjust the salt. Add chicken and sausage, fold into vegetables to coat.
7. Place the pan in the center of the oven. Let roast, turning pieces as they brown. Cook until chicken reaches 160 F in the thickest pieces.
8. Plate and top with chopped fresh oregano.

Wine pairing: a fruit-forward white wine like a Dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer would work with the spiciness of the dish. Pinot Grigio or Viognier are also good choices. For red wine try Pinot Noir, Nero d’avola, or Zinfandel. William Seibert from Shelburne Falls Cork recommends an Andre Blanck Grand Cru Riesling Schlossberg Vineyard.

Adapted from a recipe by #mario.cooks
Chef Mario DiBiase, SottoVoce Restaurant, Brooklyn, NY