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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 — not to mention presented a perfect starter plate (prosciutto-wrapped bocconcini and halved fresh figs) that I’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 — It’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 “grown-up” 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. You’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 add 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 350°F 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 won’t touch any kind of cooked tomato – including ketchup – but will eat raw tomatoes!) I can’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 – Boneless! I fixed it in recipe. Thanks for pointing that out. -Jenny

  • Melissa says:

    I’m putting this on this week’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 planet–I own the responsiblity for ruining the kids) and they will LOVE this. Can’t wait! SO VERY GLAD I found this site last week! How did I live without it??

  • Avatar Jessica says:

    I think we’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:

    I’m so excited that my recipe made it on to the site. I think I might have to give credit to Olive magazine – 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 – lemony chicken with potatoes! any subs for marscapone?

  • Bruce Barone says:

    This looks good. Think I will try it tomorrow. I’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 won’t turn her nose up at – which equates to “right up my alley.” Grocery day is tomorrow and the ingredients have been added to my list… 🙂

  • cailen says:

    mmm…that looks soooo good!

  • Avatar shannon says:

    Thanks for the recipe – this looks awesome. But I’m more intrigued by the starter! Can you say more? Please? The prosciutto is wrapped around the bocconcini and the half fig? And it’s cooked? Or, no? Sounds divine. I’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 — in fact when Vanessa emailed it to me she said she has also substituted mozzarella for the mascarpone and pasta for the chicken. It’s very flexible.

  • Jan @ Family Bites says:

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

  • Mary says:

    Wow, ask the universe what’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 don’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 couldn’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 – 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, “Wow! What smells so good? ” This goes down as a real favorite.

  • Amy says:

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

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