Directions
The sauce on this chicken was so incredibly good, that I’ve been thinking of other ways to use it ever since I first tried it. It would be wonderful tossed with pasta, amazing as a layer on a basil-tomato-mozzarella panini because it’s nice and thick, or heck, I could just eat it with a spoon.
It’s that good.
It’s always nice when something that tasty turns out to be really simple too! Yay for simple goodness!
I started by tossing some grape tomatoes with some olive oil, kosher salt, and a hefty dose of Herbes de Provence.
Herbes de Provence is a readily available herb mixture. You can find it in your spice aisle. It’s usually a combination of herbs like savory, basil, thyme, lavender, and fennel. It’s a wonderful, savory concoction, and although I was a little bit nervous about tossing in two whole tablespoons of the stuff with my tomatoes, it really did work out beautifully.
Once the tomatoes were coated with the oil and herbs, I heated a bit of oil in a skillet on the stove, and then poured my tomatoes right in. As they started to sizzle, I moved the pan to the oven, where they roasted for about fifteen minutes, until they were wrinkled, and starting to caramelize in parts, and had released some of their juices.
Don’t those look good?
I poured the tomatoes in a bowl, and tossed them with a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and let them settle for a bit.
As the tomatoes were cooking, and settling, I seared four boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the stovetop until they were golden brown, and then popped the pan into the oven to finish the chicken off. Nothing fancy…the sauce is the star here.
Once the chicken was done, I removed it from the pan and let it sit for about five minutes before slicing it up.
During the five minutes, I added a little more olive oil to the pan, and then threw in a diced shallot. I let the shallot soften up for just a bit, and then deglazed the pan with some red wine vinegar, making sure I scraped up all of the browned bits from the cooked chicken.
Then, I added my roasted tomatoes to the pan with the shallot and vinegar, let it heat through for about a minute, and we were ready to eat!
I spooned the sauce over the sliced chicken breasts, sprinkled it with some fresh basil, and served it alongside steamed broccoli. My family went NUTS over this sauce. Emily kept thanking me over and over for making it. Aaron just nodded as he ate. Avery said “It was OK”, which I’ll totally take, and consider the highest compliment, because she doesn’t like tomatoes!
It will definitely make an appearance again soon…and I can’t wait to play around with what appears along with it!
CHICKEN WITH HERB ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE
Adapted from Epicurious
- 1 1/2 lb. grape or cherry tomatoes
- 6 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 2 Tbsp. Herbes de Provence
- 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more
- black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 3 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil leaves, for serving
- Preheat your oven to 450*F.
- Toss the tomatoes in a large bowl with 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil and the Herbes de Provence. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil in a large, ovenproof skillet on the stove top. Carefully add the tomatoes to the pan (Careful! The oil can splatter!).
- Transfer the pan to the oven, and roast, turning once, for about 15 minutes. Just until the tomatoes burst, wrinkle, and start to give up some of their juices. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and pour into a medium-sized bowl. Gently toss with the Worcestershire sauce, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, season the chicken with 1 tsp. kosher salt and pepper, to taste. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts, and sear until golden brown on each side, about 6-8 minutes total. Move the pan to the oven and roast until chicken is cooked through, about 8-10 more minutes. Move the chicken to a cutting board, and allow to rest while you finish up the sauce.
- Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil to the pan that the chicken was in and heat over medium heat. Add the shallot, and cook until slightly softened, about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan, and cook until heated through, and until it just starts to thicken, about 1 minute.
- Slice the chicken and spoon the sauce over the top. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.
- ENJOY!
