Chicken in Puttanesca Sauce

Gather up the list of ingredients of chicken puttanesca. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Then thinly slice the garlic, pit the olives (if not already pitted), and drain the capers.

Pat 3 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs dry and season lightly with kosher salt on all sides. I used about 1 teaspoon across all the thighs. Remember, we’re adding a lot of other salty components (anchovies, capers, olives), so we don’t need too much salt here.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add in the chicken thighs, skin side down, and cook without moving until the skin is golden, about 5-7 minutes. Flip and cook on the second side until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

To the skillet, add 6 sliced cloves of garlic and 4 anchovy fillets (or 2 teaspoons of anchovy paste). Cook, stirring and smashing up the anchovy fillets/paste until the garlic is fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Stir in ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy!) and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Cook and stir until the tomato paste is mostly incorporated into the oil.

: Add in 1 cup of pitted kalamata olives, 14.5 ounces (1 can) of diced tomatoes with their juices, 2 tablespoons of drained capers, 2 bay leaves, and ¼ cup of chicken broth (or water). Stir to combine, then bring to a simmer and nestle the chicken into the sauce. Spoon a little over each piece of chicken.

Transfer to the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is very tender and cooked through. Serve your Neapolitan chicken puttanesca with spoonfuls of the sauce over the top. Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves!