What better way to show you care than to cook a fantastic meal for – or with – that someone special? If the idea of pulling together a fancy dinner on a weeknight, fear not. There are plenty of delicious recipes that will tickle your true love’s taste buds without taking hours to make. Just in case you want to save your energy for later.
To help get you started let’s make Baked Chicken Thighs with Tomatoes, Artichokes & Capers with Chef Blakely Trettenero. So tender and flavorful, your taste-buds won’t know what hit them.
Baked Chicken Thighs with Tomatoes, Artichokes & Capers
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thighs (about 4 thighs)
- salt
- pepper
- drizzle of olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced small
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 28-ounce can peeled plum tomatoes
- 14-ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
- 2 teaspoons drained capers
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees, then preheat a heavy-bottomed pan with a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Use paper towel to soak up any extra moisture on the chicken. This prevents the chicken from getting golden brown when you sear it. Season both sides with salt and pepper and put the chicken in the preheated oil, skin side down.
- Cook the chicken until golden brown on one side, then flip to cook on the other side. You’re not trying to cook the chicken through, only brown it!
- Once the chicken is brown on both sides, take it out of the pan and put it on a plate and set it aside.
- If there is a lot of fat in the pan, drain most of it, leaving only about a teaspoon or so in the bottom.
- Add the diced onions with a pinch of salt and pepper to the pan and cook for a few minutes until opaque.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the balsamic vinegar to the pan, scraping the bottom to get up any bits at the bottom. Add the brown sugar to the balsamic vinegar, stir to combine, and let it cook until slightly reduced, about 7-8 minutes.
- Add the can of tomatoes into the pan and turn off the heat. Use a knife to roughly cut up the tomatoes in the pan and then add the drained artichokes and capers. Give it a stir to mix everything together.
- Add the chicken thighs back into the pan, nestling them into the tomato mixture. Add the rosemary sprigs to the top and put the pan into the preheated oven uncovered.
- Let it cook for about 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve with a simple side and you have a gourmet dinner ready in no time.
About Blakely Trettenero
Blakely Trettenero, host of the Everyday Gourmet with Blakely (www.gourmetwithblakely.com) and Hungry for Travels (www.hungryfortravels.com) websites, is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando, Florida. She is a world traveler, having visited more than 30 countries, and is becoming a frequent guest on TV.
