Make Ahead

Chicken Legs in Tomato Gravy

February 22, 2014
4.6
5 Ratings
Photo by Tom Hirschfeld/ Bona Fide Farm Food
  • Serves 4 or more
What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the chicken legs
  • olive oil
  • 8 to 10 chicken legs, skin-on
  • 1 cup celery, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups yellow onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups carrots, thinly sliced on a bias
  • 12 to 18 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups tomato purée
  • 1 cup vegetable broth or water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary, minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, minced
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
  • For the mashed potatoes
  • 6 to 8 russet potatoes, depending on their size, peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup whole milk, possibly more
  • kosher salt and fresh ground white pepper
Directions
  1. For the chicken legs
  2. Season the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat the oven to 375? F.
  3. Place a large sauté over medium high heat. Add enough olive oil to the pan so that the bottom is just coated. Add the chicken legs and brown them generously on all sides. Adjust the heat as necessary.
  4. Add the carrots, celery, and onions to the pan. Season them with salt and pepper. Let the vegetables brown.
  5. Once the veggies brown add the garlic and rosemary. Stir the veggies around and once the garlic is fragrant nestle the chicken legs comfortably with the veggies. You want you veggies and chicken spooning.
  6. Add the white wine and let it reduce to almost nothing. While the wine is reducing use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the good bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
  7. Add tomato and vegetable broth. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover with a parchment lid, then slide it into the heated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  1. For the mashed potatoes
  2. While the chicken is in the oven make the mashed potatoes. Place the sliced peeled potatoes into a large pot and add enough cold water to cover them by 4 inches. Add a tablespoon of kosher salt.
  3. Place the pot over high heat and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling reduce the heat to keep the pot from boiling over.
  4. After about 15 minutes check the potatoes to see if they are done by inserting a kitchen knife into the middle of one of the larger pieces of potato. If the larger ones are done you are assured the smaller ones will be too.
  5. The knife should easily pierce the potato. Drain the potatoes into a colander. Let them steam for a few minutes to rid themselves of excess moisture.
  6. Then using a ricer, a mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment either rice, or mix the potatoes till broken down. Add the butter and mix some more. Season the potatoes with a touch of salt and fresh ground white pepper.
  7. Add the 1/3 cup of milk. Mix and then taste for seasoning. Adjust the seasoning as necessary and add more milk if the potatoes are too stiff. Be careful as to how liquidy you make the potatoes. Error on the stiff side because the tomato gravy will loosen them up a lot as they co-mingle on the platter.
  8. Plate the potatoes onto a large platter. Top the potatoes with the chicken legs then the carrots, onions and celery. Ladle the tomato gravy over all and sprinkle on the parsley. Serve.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Marsha Gainey
    Marsha Gainey
  • sangeist
    sangeist
  • Klara
    Klara

3 Reviews

Marsha G. May 5, 2016
Delicious! Involved some prep work but worth it. Seemed to be way too garlicky at first taste, but after it had sat in the fridge overnight, all subsequent meals tasted just right. Had it with mashed potatoes as well as brown rice.
 
sangeist April 3, 2014
Red gravy was gorgeous and delicious. Brown, brown, brown the chicken and veg as it adds a smokey depth to the dish. And do NOT skimp on garlic - no less than 18 cloves (and it still is not a garlicky dish).
 
Klara March 7, 2014
Great dish! I added a couple of skinned tomatoes before transferring the pan to the oven and the texture of the sauce turned out beautifully. We had it with a cucumber-yoghurt salad (with a few drops of lemon and a hint of paprika powder) and a chicory salad with a classic Italian vinaigrette. Nothing left on our plates and very happy faces all around! Thanks for sharing, thirschfeld!