Italiano
Chicken thighs with leeks, olives and paprika
A simple and tasty recipe to pair with a Chianti Classico Vallepicciola
Ingredients for 4 people:
8 chicken thighs. ½ a leek, 100g pitted olives, 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika, aromatic herbs (rosemary, sage and thyme), 1 lemon, 2 glasses white wine, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), salt as needed and salad greens.
Directions:
Remove the skin from the thighs and rub them with lemon juice and then marinate them for a couple of hours in the refrigerator in a bowl with grated lemon peel, a little paprika, the aromatic herbs and a glass of white wine.
Cut the olives into discs and chop up the leek.
Remove the thighs from the marinade and rub them with a little salt and a trickle of EVOO.
Braze the meat on all sides in a hot pan then add two tablespoons of EVOO and douse with wine. Add the chopped leek, the olives, paprika and aromatic herbs and cook covered at a low heat for around 30 minutes, salting to taste. Remove the cover in the last minutes to reduce any excess liquid.
Serve with the dressed salad greens and any other vegetables of choice. Trickle some EVOO on top of everything.
Wine to pair:
Chianti Classico Docg Vallepicciola
Intense ruby. One of the best Chianti Classico 2014. Very varietal on the nose with notes of black cherry and prune. Tense and supple palate, balanced acidity, savory, firm but not aggressive tannins; good length.
Production area: Località Pievasciata in the municipalità of Castelnuovo Berardenga (SI), Lapina and Cappellina vineyards, located on an area of 4.92 hectares, facing south.
Grape variety: Sangiovese
Wine making: the harvest takes place in the first days of October. Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes are de-stemmed and selected at the sorting table so as to allocate only those perfectly ripe for wine-making. The alcoholic fermentation takes place in small temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks; once fermentation is complete, maceration lasts approximately 13 days, allowing the freshness of the aromas, upon the extraction of the polyphenols, to reach its optimum. Malolactic fermentation takes place in large French oak barrels where the aging process lasts about 10 months.
Serving temperature: 16°C.
