Chicken Scarpariello

4.50 from 2 votes

A spicy dish with seared and braised chicken thighs, Italian Sausage, bell peppers, and cherry peppers. This dish is great to serve over crispy potatoes or with a loaf of Italian bread.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Total Time1 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 830kcal

Author: Vincent DelGiudice

Cost: $20

Equipment

1 dutch oven

Ingredients

4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
4 Italian sausage, mild or hot
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
4 sweet cherry peppers
½ cup white wine
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoon parsley, minced
10 basil leaves, julienned
¼ cup white wine vinegar or vinegar from the cherry peppers
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Season chicken thighs liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Start with your dutch oven on the stovetop on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Once shimmering, place your chicken thighs in with the skin side down. Sear the skin for 8 minutes without moving. When you flip them the skin should be golden brown. Sear the other side for 3-4 minutes and then remove and set aside. (The chicken will not be cooked through.)
Preheat the oven to 400℉. Drain any leftover juices from the chicken onto the plate with the chicken. Place the sausage in the dutch oven and sear on each side for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Lower the heat to medium and add oil to the pan if necessary, but some oil should remain from the sausage and chicken. Add your green pepper and onion. Saute until soft about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Stir in the cherry peppers and vinegar (or cherry pepper juice if you like it spicy) until combined. Add 2 tablespoon lemon juice and the white wine.
Bring the sauce to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan. Cut the sausage into thirds and add back to the sauce. If the sauce is not enough, you can add some chicken broth. It should go halfway up the chicken thigh. Place the dutch oven in the oven for 20 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165℉.
Remove the chicken and sausage from the dutch oven. Add cold butter to the sauce and combine. Stir in the parsley and basil with another squirt of lemon. Pour the sauce with peppers and onions over the chicken and sausage and serve with crusty Italian bread or roasted potatoes.

Notes

When searing the chicken thighs, it is best not to move them at all during the process to develop the best crust. Be mindful of the smoking though. If the chicken appears to be creating a lot of smoking it is likely burning. Lower the heat and check the chicken.
None of the meat will be cooked through until it goes into the oven. I still use an instant-read thermometer to make sure that the temperature is right when I finish cooking them.
The sauce can be very spicy if you use the pepper juice. If your family does not like spicy, I HIGHLY recommend using white wine vinegar. My son spit this out immediately because of the spice level.
It gets spicier on day two, especially the meat. As the meat sits in the juices overnight, this dish takes on more flavor and spice which is great but also not great for kids. Be mindful of the level of spice.

Nutrition