Spring Chicken Ragu Recipes

SPRING CHICKEN RAGU

Steps:

• Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add chicken, and cook over medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides, about 7 minutes total.
• Add stock and tomatoes, bring to a boil, and cover. Cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes; remove chicken, and set aside.
• Add carrots to skillet, and cook, covered, until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus, leeks, and peas, and cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 more minutes.
• Meanwhile, pull chicken from bone, and shred into large bite-size pieces. Return chicken to skillet, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Garnish with sprigs of parsley, if desired.

CHICKEN RAGU

Steps:

• Heat a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Salt the water when it boils and cook the pasta to al dente.In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO over medium-high heat. Brown the pancetta for 3-4 minutes, then add another tablespoon of EVOO. Add the chicken and brown evenly for 5-6 minutes. Add the onion, rosemary, bay leaf and garlic, season with salt and pepper, then grate the carrot with a box grater directly into the pan and stir in. Cook until the vegetables are soft, 5-6 minutes.Add the Marsala to the chicken and vegetables, stir and reduce for a minute, then add the tomatoes and crush them with a wooden spoon. Simmer for a few minutes to thicken the sauce and combine the flavors.Drain the pasta and toss with the chicken ragu and cheese. Discard the bay leaf. Garnish with some torn basil. Serve immediately.

CHICKEN WITH CHICKPEA AND TOMATO RAGU

Steps:

• Toss the chicken breasts with the salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Heat a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan and heat an additional 30 seconds. Add the onion, garlic and fennel to the hot pan. Season with salt and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are beginning to soften and are fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the oregano and garlic powder to the vegetables and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the vegetables are translucent and beginning to brown slightly, another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the vinegar. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Using the back of a wooden spoon, crush the tomatoes into medium-sized pieces. Simmer for 10 minutes while you start the chicken.
• Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil and heat an additional 30 seconds. Add the chicken to the hot skillet and cook, undisturbed, until deep golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until the chicken is evenly browned on both sides, an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully ladle the tomato mixture over and around the chicken, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and butter and cook to heat through, 2 more minutes. Did you taste it? Season with additional salt, garlic powder or garlic salt if needed. Stir in the basil and serve topped with Parmesan, if desired.

SPRING CHICKEN RAGU

Steps:

• Rinse and dry chicken breasts. Place chicken in a medium Dutch oven or other pot with tight fitting lid. Add a few bay leaves to pot. Peel and quarter an onion, leaving the root end in tact. Arrange with chicken and bay leaves then add water to the pot to come up to the top of chicken without covering it. Bring to a boil and drop heat to simmer. Cover pot and poach chicken about 15-20 minutes. Cool meat, strain and reserve 2 cups of cooking liquid. Remove skin and bones and shred meat into small pieces with forks or your hands. Heat EVOO in Dutch oven, a couple of turns of the pan, over medium to medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, a medium onion, finely chopped and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme and cook 8 minutes to soften. Add tomato paste and stir 1 minute. Stir in wine then reserved cooking liquids. Add chicken to sauce and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir in milk, then season with a little nutmeg. Simmer sauce, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes over low heat. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta. Add papardelle or fettuccini and cook to al dente. Reserve a ladle of starchy cooking liquid just before draining pasta. Toss drained pasta with cooking liquid, half the sauce and a handful of cheese.

CHICKEN RAGU

Steps:

• Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken thighs and Italian sausage. Stir cook, breaking sausage into small pieces, until chicken is browned and sausage meat is no longer pink.
• Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic and bay leaf and continue to stir cook until the onion is softened.
• Stir in Marsala.
• Bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Reduce heat and simmer until half of the liquid has evaporated (about 15 minutes). Transfer this mixture to a Dutch oven.
• Mix in mushrooms, tomatoes, chicken stock, tomato paste and cloves.
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes.
• Serve as a stew with a salad and French bread or serve as a sauce for your favourite pasta.
• Makes 4 to 6 servings.

EASY CHICKEN RAGU

Steps:

• Fill 6-quart stockpot or Dutch oven with water; heat to boiling over high heat.
• Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, place oil, onion, carrot and celery; cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes or until onion becomes soft. Stir in rosemary and garlic; cook 30 seconds. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes, breaking up chicken with large spoon or spatula, until chicken browns.
• Remove from heat; stir in wine. Return to heat; cook 1 minute.
• To boiling water, add spaghetti and 1 tablespoon salt; cook as directed on box.
• Stir marinara sauce into chicken mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 10 minutes. Taste chicken ragu; if needed, season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken ragu over cooked spaghetti.

CHICKEN & CHORIZO RAGU

Steps:

• Fry the chorizo over a medium heat in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole dish for 5 mins or until it releases its oil and starts to char at the edges. Add the onion and fry for 5 mins more or until soft. Tip in the garlic and cook for 2 mins before stirring in the paprika and sundried tomatoes. Add the chicken thighs and fry for 2 mins each side until they are well coated in the spices and beginning to brown.
• Pour in the chopped tomatoes and stock, and turn the heat down. Cover and cook for 40 mins until the chicken is falling apart and the sauce is thick. Stir the lemon juice through. Serve by piling spoonfuls of the ragu into hot jacket potatoes with parsley sprinkled over and a dollop of soured cream, if you like.

CHICKEN RAGù WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Put the oil in a wide saucepan or deep skillet that will fit six thighs snugly and turn the heat to medium. Add the bacon and cook it until it's crisp, 5 to 6 minutes, then, using a slotted spoon, transfer it to a small bowl.
• Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the chicken, skin-side down, to begin to brown. After 3 or 4 minutes, turn it and cook for another 3 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat.
• Add the onion and fennel and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and just starting to turn golden, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the thyme and cook for another minute or so.
• Pour in wine and simmer, stirring and scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by half, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the bacon and then the chicken with any accumulated juices, skin-side up, keeping the thighs in a single layer. Pour in enough water to almost cover the chicken.
• Bring to a simmer and then turn the heat down so the liquid is bubbling very gently. Partially cover with a lid, setting it so some steam can escape. Cook until the chicken is tender, about 45 minutes.
• Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside to cool. Once you can handle it, remove the bones and skin and shred the chicken by hand.
• If you are serving the ragù over pasta, get your water going: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions, reserving 1 cup pasta water before draining.
• Add milk to the pan and turn the burner to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until sauce is nearly reduced by half and slightly thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the shredded chicken back to the pan and season with salt and pepper.
• Stir in the butter, then the Parmesan. If serving over pasta, add some of the starchy pasta water if the sauce seems too thick.
• Add the parsley, and toss sauce with the pasta, if using. Pass more Parmesan at the table.