When I first saw the listing for Chicken Canzanese in the chicken bible, I thought it was a Chinese dish but turns out it’s a very old Italian recipe. I’ve resized and revamped it for those of us with allergies. It originally made eight servings so I’ve reduced it to 4. I’ve also changed the white wine in the original to chicken stock plus a touch of rice vinegar and honey. Since I’m used to using dried herbs rather than fresh, I’ve also reflected that change in this recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In an ovenproof skillet (about 10-12 inches), heat over medium high heat:
1 teaspoon olive oil
Add:
1 ounce prosciutto cut into 1/4 inch cubes*
Cook, stirring frequently, until just starting to brown. Add:
3 teaspoons chopped garlic
Cook, stirring often, until garlic just starts to brown. Transfer the prosciutto and garlic to a small bowl. Dry with paper towels:
4-5 chicken thighs, skin on
Dust them with pepper to taste (no salt is necessary in this recipe because of the salt in the prosciutto. Replace the skillet on the heat and add:
1 teaspoon olive oil
the 4-5 chicken thighs, skin side down
Cook until well browned on the first side (about 5 minutes) then turn over and brown on the meat side, reducing heat to medium (about 5 more minutes). Transfer the chicken to a plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoon of the oil from the skillet (the chicken will release quite a bit of fat). Add to the skillet over medium heat:
2 tablespoon all purpose gluten-free flour
Whisk to combine and let the flour cook for about 30 seconds while whisking before adding:
2 cups of chicken stock
drizzle of rice vinegar (about 1/4 teaspoon)
drizzle of honey (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (depending on your taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
dash (1/8 teaspoon) ground cloves (or add 2 whole cloves – just remember to remove them before serving)
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional depending on your taste)
Whisk to combine and cook until slightly thickened. Add the prosciutto, garlic, and chicken (skin side up) to the skillet, nestling the chicken into the sauce. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. After about 15 minutes check and see if the sauce is bubbling; if it is reduce oven temperature to 300 and cook until chicken is tender. Sauce should have thickened but if it’s still thin, remove the chicken from the sauce (move to a plate and cover) and cook the sauce on the stovetop for a few minutes until reduced to approximately 1 1/2 cups. Remove from the heat and whisk in:
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Stir to combine and then pour the sauce around the chicken. Remove the bay leaves (and whole cloves if used) before serving. Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or polenta.
*Prosciutto can become tough if fried when very thinly sliced so it’s recommended that a 1/4″ piece be used to cut “chunks” for this recipe. However, my deli wasn’t able to provide a “slab” of prosciutto because of shortages now due to the pandemic so I used the thinly sliced prepackaged prosciutto instead. Seemed to work alright but I simply chopped it into larger pieces than 1/4″.
cookingwithoutallergens 
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