Chicken Scarpariello is a super tasty recipe, very popular in the United States and a pillar of Italian American cuisine. Do you know the Italian origin of the Scarpariello sauce? Here is the whole story and the evolution of a dish loved so much from Italy to America!
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 Chicken pieces skin and bone-in ( what you prefer among thighs, drumstick, breast, wings)
- 4 pork ribs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3.5 cups (800 g) tomato puree
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 yellow or white onion
- 2 green chili peppers (optional)
- 1 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 tbsp Pecorino Romano
- 1.5 tbsp Provolone
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 Qt (1 lt) Sunflower oil
- 5 Basil leaves
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 tsp black pepper
- to taste table salt
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ORIGIN OF ITALIAN SCARPARIELLO SAUCE
Like the majority of the poor and popular recipes, It is hard to find the origin of Scarpariello sauce.
Probably, the original recipe is dated between the 18th and the 19th Century. At that time, the first recipes with tomatoes started to appear into Neapolitan cuisine.
The term "Scarpariello" is a diminutive of "Scarparo", which means cobbler.
The legend tells that on Mondays, the wives of the cobblers used to prepare lunch for their husbands with Sunday's leftovers.
It was traditional to prepare the Neapolitan Ragu on Sundays: a sort of meat stew slowly cooked for hours and hours into the tomato sauce.
So frequently, the traditional cobbler Monday lunch was pasta tossed with the leftover tomato sauce of the Neapolitan Ragu and topped with grated cheese.
The cheese was another ingredient always present in the cobbler pantry: the poorest people from the countryside, often farmers, used to pay for their shoe repairs with the cheese they made.
THE NEAPOLITAN RAGU
To understand the origin and evolution of chicken Scarpariello, we need to take a look at the Neapolitan Ragu recipe, called in dialect 'O Rraù!
The Ragu in Naples is something similar to a religious matter: this is not a recipe but an event, starting from the traditional preparation time that needs up to 2 days!
The traditional meat cuts are basically three:
1- separated pork ribs (called Tracchie or Tacchiolelle)
2- beef chuck roast
3- Braciole: top round beef finely sliced, rolled, and filled with cheese, parsley, garlic, pine nuts, raisin, and prosciutto.
The meat is slowly cooked into a tomato sauce enriched with sauteed onions, basil, and garlic for hours and hours. When ready, the sauce is used to toss the pasta, and the meat is served separately.
The original pasta alla Scarpariello used to be made with the leftovers of this tomato sauce, full of the flavors of the herbs, onions, meats, raisins, and pinenuts.
Braciole for Neapolitan Ragu
SCARPARIELLO SAUCE NOWADAYS
At this time, in Italy, the Scarpariello sauce has become a kind of recipe that, in the Neapolitan dialect, is called Sciuè Sciuè: very informal, quick, and easy to prepare.
The tomato sauce (or fresh tomatoes) is quickly sauteed with olive oil and garlic, then tossed with boiled pasta, grated cheese and basil leaves, and black pepper.
If prepared with prime quality ingredients, this Scarpariello is undoubtedly tasty, but the current version is far from the original: a different recipe, indeed!
THE CHICKEN SCARPARIELLO IN THE UNITED STATES
The Italian American version of Chicken Scarpariello is one of the most popular recipes in the United States.
Actually, we can find several different variations under the name Chicken Scarpariello.
Here are some examples of the variety of this recipe.
The most popular version of American Chicken Scarpariello is close to the Rao's, the legendary Italian restaurant in East Harlem.
In this recipe, there are several influences from other Southern Italian regions besides Campania, like Calabrian hot sausages, bell peppers, and other ingredients more exotic like Mexican Jalapeno peppers.
We also find potatoes and red wine vinegar. Curiously, the tomato originating from the Americas it is missing.
The famous chef Mario Carbone suggests marinating the chicken with herbs, roasted garlic, olive oil, and crushed peppers overnight before finishing it in the oven and serving over a vegetable ragu made with various peppers, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and shallots.
It's singular that into the sauce, Carbone adds a classic sausage of the Northern Italian tradition: the Cotechino Modenese.
Finally, at Paul and Jimmy restaurant in New York, the Scarpariello is a simple and quick recipe: the chicken is sauteed with salt, pepper, and oregano, then basted with dry white wine, vinegar, and lemon juice, and finished in the oven until well done but still juicy.
THE ITALIAN CHICKEN SCARPARIELLO
The popular Neapolitan cookbook Frijenno Magnanno gives us a simple version of the Chicken Scarpariello.
In this version, The chicken is floured and deep-fried. Then, it is sautéed with onions and 3 green peppers and basted with white wine. Finally, the chicken pieces are cooked slow and low with tomatoes, basil, and parsley.
The closest version to the original Scarpariello sauce wants to stew the chicken into the leftover Neapolitan Ragu sauce. Unfortunately, this is not possible without the leftover Neapolitan Ragu!
The version I prefer is as close as possible to the original Italian Scarpariello recipe, and easy to prepare in a faster time (a couple of hours).
I like to use the pork ribs (Tracchie) traditional in the Neapolitan ragu instead of sausages.
I also reintroduced the cheese, critical in the Scarpariello legend: a mix of Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, and Sharp Provolone. The first two kinds of cheese are not local, but they are popular in several Neapolitan recipes.
The result is a tasty chicken cooked in a thick and bold tomato sauce, absolutely delicious. I will leave you the detailed recipe at the end of this post.
CHICKEN SCARPARIELLO - Traditional Italian Recipe and History
Chicken Scarpariello is a super tasty recipe, very popular in the United States and a pillar of Italian American cuisine. Do you know the Italian origin of the Scarpariello sauce? Here is the whole story and the evolution of a dish loved so much from Italy to America!
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken pieces skin and bone-in ( what you prefer among thighs, drumstick, breast, wings)
- 4 pork ribs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3.5 cups (800 g) tomato puree
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 yellow or white onion
- 2 green chili peppers (optional)
- 1 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 tbsp Pecorino Romano
- 1.5 tbsp Provolone
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 Qt (1 lt) Sunflower oil
- 5 Basil leaves
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 tsp black pepper
- to taste table salt
Instructions
ONIONS AND GARLIC SAUTE
- First, mince the garlic and the onion, pour them into a saucepan, and add a pinch of salt and 3 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil.
- If you like to make it spicy, add to the pan 2 whole green chili peppers.
- Now, place the pan on medium flame and saute until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
PREPARE AND FRY THE CHICKEN AND RIBS
- Now, choose 8 pieces of chicken bone-in and skin-on between drumsticks, thighs, wings, and breast. If you prefer more if you prefer a part more than another, you can add what you like, for example, I particularly love thighs and drumsticks!
- Then, separate the 4 pork ribs with a sharp knife.
- At this point, pour the Sunflowers oil into a 5 Qt Pot and place on medium flame. You want to reach the 340° F (about 170° C) and not exceed the 355 ° F (180° C) to fry the chicken to perfection.
- Meanwhile, waiting for the oil reaches the right temperature, flour the chicken pieces and the pork ribs, then shake them to discard the flour in excess.
- After that, fry the meat 3 or 4 pieces at a time. When they reach a nice golden crust, raise them and rest on paper towels to drain the oil in excess.
- Let the oil reach the right temperature before repeating the frying of the remaining pieces.
- Remember that you don't want the meat well done during this phase: the cooking will be completed during the next steps.
CHICKEN SCARPARIELLO STEW
- At this point, add the chicken and ribs into the saucepan along with the onions and garlic.
- Then, stir well, raise the flame and baste with the white wine.
- Once the alcohol is evaporated, low the flame and add the tomato puree and the hand-baked basil leaves.
- Now, salt to taste, cover with a lid and cook on the lowest flame. You want the meat well done but still tender and juicy (about 1.5 hours).
- When ready, raise the chicken from the sauce and store them on a plate.
- Now, place the pan far from the flame and incorporate the grated cheese one spoon at a time, stirring well.
- When the sauce becomes consistent, pour the ribs and the chicken pieces again into the saucepan.
- Complete with a generous sprinkle of black pepper, and serve immediately!
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 488Total Fat 29gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 77mgCarbohydrates 31gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 21g
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