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Chicken and TurkeyDinnerQuick

The Six-Kid Crowdpleaser

By October 4, 2010November 6th, 201251 Comments

A few weeks ago my friend Vanessa invited my family to her house for dinner. She and her husband cooked the most delicious meal โ€” not to mention presented a perfect starter plate (prosciutto-wrapped bocconcini and halved fresh figs) that Iโ€™ve already stolen and passed off as mine in my own house. Twice. But the real highlight of the evening was watching my kids (and four others) devour her creamy-tomatoey baked chicken before they headed to the basement for a Scooby Doo screening. Because my kids had never eaten it before, I was all ready to give them the usual song-and-dance โ€” Itโ€™s like Chicken Parm, but the cheese is in the sauce instead of on top of the chicken! But none was needed. They ate every last bite and I found myself sneaking a spoonful of what remained in the pot when Vanessa was in the other room setting the table for the โ€œgrown-upโ€ meal. My favorite thing about the recipe, which of course I made Vanessa email me the next day, was that it reads like a tweet. It is that simple. It requires only six basic ingredients and (after some technique tweaking) only one pot. Youโ€™re welcome.

Baked Chicken in Creamy Tomato Sauce

In an ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven (sorry photo does not show either), brown 3 to 4 large boneless chicken breasts over high heat in olive oil, about 2 minutes a side. Remove breasts from pan. (They do not have to be cooked through.) Turn down heat to medium-low and addย one onion (finely chopped) and 2 cloves garlic (minced). After about 2 minutes, stir in one 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in 3-4 tablespoons mascarpone and a handful of roughly chopped basil. Add chicken back to pan, immersing them in sauce. Bake at 350ยฐF for 20 minutes.

51 Comments

  • Avatar Susan says:

    It looks like something my two tomato sauce eating kids would like. (Alas, I have one that wonโ€™t touch any kind of cooked tomato โ€“ including ketchup โ€“ but will eat raw tomatoes!) I canโ€™t tell from the photo whether the chicken is a boneless skinless breast or a bone-in breast. Can you clarify? Thanks!

  • MommyLisa says:

    Yum.

  • Jenny Jenny says:

    Susan โ€“ Boneless! I fixed it in recipe. Thanks for pointing that out. -Jenny

  • Melissa says:

    Iโ€™m putting this on this weekโ€™s menu! Maybe with a side of whole wheat pasta and some broccoli.

  • Avatar Angie says:

    Awesome! I have chicken thawed out for tonight but my kids are SICK SICK SICK of the boring stuff I make with chicken over and over. They are also the pickiest eater children on the planet (because I am the pickest eater adult on the planetโ€“I own the responsiblity for ruining the kids) and they will LOVE this. Canโ€™t wait! SO VERY GLAD I found this site last week! How did I live without it??

  • Avatar Jessica says:

    I think weโ€™ll be having this for dinner at my house tonight! Perhaps with a side of quinoa and a green salad? Thank you so much for the easy, delicious recipes!

  • Avatar Vanessa says:

    Iโ€™m so excited that my recipe made it on to the site. I think I might have to give credit to Olive magazine โ€“ my favourite UK food magazine. Maybe I should make it again tonight! So glad the girls enjoyed it second time around too.

  • Avatar amanda says:

    i am on jury duty right now and have my time for dinner book with me. this meal trumps the one i was going to make โ€“ lemony chicken with potatoes! any subs for marscapone?

  • Bruce Barone says:

    This looks good. Think I will try it tomorrow. Iโ€™ll let you know how it turns out. If you are looking for an amazing meatball recipe I posted one this morning.

  • Avatar jenny f. says:

    Wow! This sounds delicious, so unbelievably simple, and includes ingredients that my recently-decided-to-become-picky 4-year-old daughter wonโ€™t turn her nose up at โ€“ which equates to โ€œright up my alley.โ€ Grocery day is tomorrow and the ingredients have been added to my listโ€ฆ ๐Ÿ™‚

  • cailen says:

    mmmโ€ฆthat looks soooo good!

  • Avatar shannon says:

    Thanks for the recipe โ€“ this looks awesome. But Iโ€™m more intrigued by the starter! Can you say more? Please? The prosciutto is wrapped around the bocconcini and the half fig? And itโ€™s cooked? Or, no? Sounds divine. Iโ€™m a newbie when it comes to figs, but wondering what to do with those little purple fruits.

  • Avatar Trish O says:

    yummy

  • Avatar andrea says:

    made this tonight. perfect!!

  • Avatar Nikki says:

    Do you think you could subsitute ricotta for the mascarpone?

    • Jenny Jenny says:

      Nikki: Yes ricotta is fine โ€” in fact when Vanessa emailed it to me she said she has also substituted mozzarella for the mascarpone and pasta for the chicken. Itโ€™s very flexible.

  • Jan @ Family Bites says:

    The entire meal sounds fantastic โ€“ the starter and the main course. And the fact that six different kids devoured it is fantastic.

  • Mary says:

    Wow, ask the universe whatโ€™s for dinner, and blam, your amazing blog provides! Thanks, Jenny!

  • Avatar Deirdre says:

    Do you put the prosciutto-wrapped bocconcini under the broiler or is it served raw?

  • Avatar Carrie says:

    Having *just* made this for our lunches tomorrow, I can attest that it is so easy and tastes so good I had a hard time putting it away for lunches! (and yes, I love making dinner so much that if I donโ€™t get home until really late, I make dinner for lunches the next day.)

    love your site, thanks for sharing this tweetable recipe!

  • Avatar julia says:

    I made this for just me and my husband, and it was enough for two dinners plus a lunch for me. Fantastic! It was really good, a nice warm meal for early fall. I couldnโ€™t find mascarpone so I just used a lot of whole milk ricotta and it worked great. Thanks!

  • Avatar Lee says:

    I made this and somehow read creme fresh instead of marscapone- very good with creme fresh too!

  • Avatar Lynne says:

    crush or mince the garlic? or whole?

  • Jenny Jenny says:

    Lynne โ€“ minced. Sorry, I will correct in recipe! Thanks for pointing that out.

  • Avatar Emily says:

    I cooked this last night and it was terrific. I served it with mashed potatoes and snap peas. My husband walked in the house while it was cooking and said, โ€œWow! What smells so good? โ€ This goes down as a real favorite.

  • Amy says:

    Just made this for Sunday dinner โ€“ yum! I doubled the amount of diced tomatoes so there would be enough sauce to serve the whole meal over mini bowtie pasta. Iโ€™ll definitely be making this again. Iโ€™m looking forward to the little bit thatโ€™s left for lunch tomorrow.

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