To Italian Americans, “gravy” means tomato sauce cooked all day with various types of meats. Flavors mingle, meat falls apart, herbs kick in, and you’ve got a world-class Sunday pasta dinner. Chicken with Red Gravy riffs off that beloved tomato-wine sauce.
But with chicken thighs rather than red meat, it cooks faster, tastes lighter, and soaks beautifully into quick-cooking couscous or polenta. So you can treat your family or guests to the joys of red gravy whenever the mood hits you.
But is it Italian or French?
When I gave this recipe to my sister-in-law Chris, she exclaimed, “It’s ‘Meal A’!” I had forgotten that her go-to favorite for decades, Chicken Provençal from Tidewater on the Half Shell, drenches chicken in that very same red gravy. Even though it has a few more ingredients, her recipe tastes like a twin. And yet its name is so French, it even has a cedilla.
So, is this dish Italian or French? Let’s just settle on Mediterranean—too good to confine to any country’s borders.
Chicken with Red Gravy
Adapted from The Boston Globe, which probably adapted from Marcella Hazan
- 6 chicken thighs, bone-in or skinless/boneless
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Flour (for sprinkling)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 green pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup red wine (or water)
- 1 can (28 ounces) diced or crushed tomatoes
- Sprinkle thighs with salt, pepper and flour. In a large frying pan, heat oil on high until shimmering. Brown thighs, remove, and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add onions, green pepper, garlic and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until softened.
- Add thyme and oregano and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Pour in wine (or water) and cook, scraping the bottom, for 2 more minutes. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil.
- Return chicken to pan and lower heat. Cover with lid partially off so some steam can escape. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until meat gets tender. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and black pepper if desired.
- Serve over polenta (quick-cooking preferred, with Parmesan and butter stirred in to taste), couscous, noodles, or pasta.
