Chicken with Olives, Tomatoes and Lentils

5 from 11 votes

Succulent, fall off the bone braised chicken with olives, tomatoes and lentils. This chicken recipe is so easy to put together and makes a healthy, flavour packed meal the whole family will enjoy any day of the week. Made with chicken thighs, green olives, sun-dried tomatoes and lentils.

Prep Time2

Cook Time50

Total Time52

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: people

Author: Emily Wyper

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 white yellow onion
2 cloves garlic , finely chopped
2 lbs (850g) mixed chicken thighs and legs with the skin on (2 pieces of chicken per person)
1/2 cup (125ml) red wine
16 oz (480g) canned plum tomatoes
20 green olives (roughly)
10 sun-dried tomatoes (roughly)
14 oz (400g) puy lentils ,pre-cooked, canned
salt and pepper
1 small bunch parsley ,chopped

Instructions

First, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and brown the chicken on all sides, remove it from the pan and set aside on a plate. Finely chop the carrot, celery & onion and saute in the same pan for 5 minutes then add the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes until soft.
Add the chicken back to the pan and add the red wine. Reduce the wine by half then add the canned plum tomatoes.
Use the side of a wooden spoon or spatula to carefully mash the plum tomatoes into smaller pieces. Add the olives and chopped sun-dried tomatoes and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Simmer the chicken, olives and tomatoes uncovered for 40 minutes then add the pre-cooked lentils. Stir them in and simmer again for another 10 minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of parsley.

Notes

Tip 1 - I use a mixture of chicken thighs and drumsticks with the skin on because I think it gives a lot of extra flavour to the dish and it's also a little cheaper to buy. Because the chicken is braised in a tomato sauce the skin isn't crispy or very nice to eat when it's ready. I simply remove it at the end and I don't mind doing this but you could also buy skinless chicken for this instead.
Tip 2 - The soffritto (finely chopped carrot, celery and onion) needs to be sauteed slowly until soft, it's really the only work that's involved to make this dish and gives a lot of depth and flavour to the sauce. Don't try to rush this step.
Tip 3 - Use a red wine that you would drink and stay away from cooking wine it's just not nice and wouldn't give the same flavour to this chicken dish.

Nutrition