Chicken Bites with Potato, Sausages, and Vinegar
For this dish I prefer luganega, a thin (about 1/2-inch-wide) pork sausage seasoned only with salt and pepper and without fennel or other seeds. If that is unavailable, use the wider (about 1-inch-thick) sweet pork sausages, preferably made without aromatic seeds of any kind. Cut the smaller luganega into 1-inch lengths, and the wider sausages into 1/2-inch lengths. When I cook a whole chicken, or any chicken on the bone, I always salt it three times: in its raw state, when I first begin to cook it, and as it finishes cooking. It seems that the first two saltings are absorbed and somewhat dissipated, especially if you add more ingredients as the chicken cooks. The last salting should be to balance the whole act. Each time you salt, it should be done judiciously, to avoid oversalting and ruining the dish.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 6 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Cut each chicken into twelve pieces as described on page 261. Wash and pat the chicken pieces dry, then season them generously with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 450° F. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wide, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned on all sides, about 3 minutes for thinner sausages or 5 minutes for wider sausages. Remove the sausage pieces with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a roasting pan or baking dish large enough to hold all the sausage, chicken, and potatoes comfortably while allowing room for stirring. (An 18 × 15–inch roasting pan is ideal.) Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper again. Increase the heat to medium-high and add to the skillet as many pieces, skin side down, as will fit in a single layer. Cook, turning once, until well browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. As the pieces are done, remove them to the roasting pan and add the remaining chicken pieces as room becomes available. When all the chicken has been browned and removed from the pan, add the potatoes, cut side down, and cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer those to the roasting pan as well.
Step 2
Whack the garlic cloves with the flat side of the knife and scatter them and the rosemary over the contents of the roasting pan. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and roast 15 minutes, stirring gently occasionally. Sprinkle the chicken, sausage, and potatoes with the vinegar and continue roasting, stirring gently occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes.
Step 3
Prop up one end of the roasting pan so the fat settles on one end and let rest 5 minutes. Spoon off the excess fat from the roasting pan, sprinkle the parsley over everything, and transfer to a warm serving platter. Serve immediately.
