Name: Sample Recipe Title
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 eggs, 100g chocolate, 1 cup flour

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Baked hen marinara with bell peppers is a much-loved Italian-American consolation meals. This two-step recipe is easy and accessible elements leading to a mouthwatering dish of juicy hen breasts in a traditional tomato, basil and garlic sauce, oven-baked and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. Serve with piles spaghetti and garlic bread.

If you’re anticipating this hen marinara bake to be golden breaded hen breasts, let me cease you there and redirect you to my hen parm recipe for all of your crunchy/saucy hen wants.

There’s nothing like faking your individual Italian-ness by busting out a red-checked tablecloth and a fiasco-covered chianti bottle (sure, the straw basket is definitely referred to as a fiasco), kissing your fingertips and exclaiming “Oh mama!” at each alternative.

And what you want is a totally inauthentic Italian recipe to encourage that behaviour! Although it sounds conventional, Chicken Marinara, or Chicken Parmesan, is an American-Italian consolation meals developed by homesick immigrants within the mid-20^th century.

Nevertheless, it’s as scrumptious as it’s theatrical. And no, my youngsters will not be too grown up for that form of drama, though these days it comes with a aspect of Sopranos.

Baked hen with marinara sauce

OK, so the dish itself may not be traditional- however the marinara sauce is! It’s undisputed that this sauce has hyperlinks to Neapolitan sailors, marinara means of the sailors, and the straightforward however extremely efficient elements haven’t diverse for hundreds of years.

The marinara sauce recipe is tomatoes, This is an affiliate hyperlink.olive oilgarlic, basil and oregano. That is it! However, with any elements record this brief, the produce have to be high quality.

Choose This is an affiliate hyperlink.Tomato pastor crushed tomatoes, that you understand to be sun-ripened to sweetness. Olive oil that tastes of olives and isn’t bitter. Fresh, aromatic basil should you can. Plump and moist garlic cloves- not those shrivelling behind the onions, and newly-opened dried basil.

Once you’ve mastered the marinara sauce recipeyou’ll be making use of it to all types of Italian meals, like spaghetti for a meal in below 10 minutes, or a (undoubtedly extra genuine) eggplant parmesan.

Some baked hen with marinara sauce will name for breaded hen. I’ve skipped that step on this recipe. Personally, I don’t assume it provides a lot to the dish- there’s no crispy crunch as soon as the hen has been smothered in sauce, and it provides time to the recipe and pointless energy.

The different apparent distinction in mine is the inclusion of smoked pancetta and bell peppers. The pancetta brings depth and complexity to the sauce; it’s a pure salt injection too! And the sweetness of the peppers can reduce sharper tomatoes whereas including bonus nutritional vitamins.

While marinara is a generally used time period in North America, it’s typically misinterpreted within the UK as a sauce with a wealth of seafood in it! What’s identified romantically in North America as marinara saucewithin the UK is reductively and inelegantly referred to as ‘pasta sauce’. Oh mama!!

Recipe ideas and notes

Although the sauce itself is easy sufficient to make, you need to use store-bought Marinara sauce (or pasta sauce because it’s identified within the UK) and simply pour that over the hen earlier than baking.
I’ve used hen breasts; there’s no threat of them drying out in a saucy dish like this one! But boneless or bone-in hen thighs will likely be simply as tasty if that’s what you favor.
As it’s an Italian-inspired recipe, I’m utilizing cubed smoked pancetta. It has an honest quantity of fats and is milder than smoked bacon- which is the choice.

Serving ideas

Baked hen with peppers already has a inbuilt vegetable element, so no must really feel responsible should you skip a inexperienced aspect. However, I all the time serve a recent and vibrant backyard salad with mine. Or go for lemon butter inexperienced beans if you would like one thing cooked.

You undoubtedly want a sauce-absorbing aspect with this supremely tomatoey predominant course! Plain pasta is the plain selection, however rice, and even herbed mushroom riceor mashed potato will guarantee each final drop is swiped up.

I’ve to confess although, these tremendous seasoned and salty air-fryer potatoes are close to irresistible.

Storage and leftovers

Leftover baked hen with marinara will hold coated in an This is an affiliate hyperlink.airtight container within the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat within the oven or on the range prime with a splash of water to loosen and to forestall drying out.

To freeze, portion out the hen and marinara sauce individually- freezer luggage are perfect for this! The hen will likely be at its finest for as much as three months. Defrost totally earlier than cooking and use a This is an affiliate hyperlink.meat thermometer to verify the inner temperature of the meat has reached meals protected ranges (74C/165F) earlier than serving.

More hen recipes to strive

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. In a big pan, which may go within the oven, brown the diced pancetta till the fats rendered, then take away to a separate plate. To the identical pan advert the olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper hen breasts, brown till golden however not cooked all through. Remove to the identical plate as pancetta. Now add the sliced bell peppers and sauté them for about 5 minutes whereas stirring, take away from the pan.
Reduce the warmth to low and add sliced garlic to the pan, sauté for 20-30 seconds whereas stirring, don’t permit it to brown, now pour within the tomato passata or crushed tomatoes, add the dried basil and oregano, deliver to a simmer and salt to style.
If you used an oven proof pan earlier deliver the cooked pancetta, browned hen breasts and sautéed bell peppers to the pan, scoop the sauce on prime of the hen breasts. If not, use a separate casserole, grease the underside and add the hen, pancetta and the bell peppers, now pour the sauce over them.
Scatter the grated mozzarella everywhere in the hen breasts and prepare dinner coated with a lid or aluminium foil within the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then uncover and prepare dinner for 5-7 minutes longer.

This is a straightforward recipe, however you may make it even simpler through the use of a store-bought Marinara sauce (or pasta sauce within the UK) and pouring it over the hen earlier than baking.
I’ve used hen breasts as a result of they gained’t dry out in a saucy dish like this one. But boneless or bone-in hen thighs will likely be simply as scrumptious.
Smoked pancetta is used to stay with Italian elements. It has an honest quantity of fats and is milder tasting than smoked bacon, which is the closest different.