Pollo al Mattone

 
 

This ancient Estruscan recipe is a fun way to liven up roasted chicken. The chicken is butterflied with the breast plate removed. A simple marinade of olive oil, herbs and chiles provides loads of flavor and generally takes a quick hour. I prefer to add sea salt as the chicken cooks. The translation is simply "chicken under brick". How easy is that?

Since I had no bricks on hand, I wrapped a heavy iron skillet in foil and placed the chicken on a slab of preheated marble. This recipes is sometimes done on the stove top frying the chicken in 3 tbsp or so of olive oil and flattening with the brick. I like using my infrared grill to keep the summer heat out of the kitchen. The recipe cooks in under an hour. Just be sure to cook it through.

The rising dough is a Lavash bread recipe that I have added parmesan cheese and dried chives. Next I intend to put the dough through my pasta maker for extra thin strips of flatbread. I will sprinkle it with sea salt after it bakes.

If I can't get to my beloved Tuscany this year-I will simply have to bring Tuscany to me!

One of our favorite memories visiting with friends in Tuscany led us to a famous village in the Chianti region where we were able to videotape an Estruscan tomb. Our hosts arranged for a private guided tour of a very important Estruscan museum where I was able to see first hand the remants of Estruscan life. . .their beautiful art reminded me so much of early Greek art.

The museum graciously allowed us to videotape the museum and artifacts. Watch for it on an upcoming episode of Home At Last.

The slide show featured on my blog is the village featured in this blog. It is a beautiful location far up on a mountain. During WWII, a brutal battle was fought on the mountainside between the Nazis and American forces.

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