Spicy Chicken Calabrese With Olive Oil Mash Food

BOMBA CALABRESE (SPICY CALABRIAN PEPPER SPREAD)

Steps:

• Place mushrooms, onion, and eggplant into bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off until very finely chopped but not liquefied, 8 to 10 pulses.
• Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil into a skillet. Transfer mushroom mixture to skillet over medium-high heat. Add a large pinch of salt. Cook until mixture is soft, stirring, about 10 minutes.
• Cut off tops of cherry peppers; discard stems but save the ring of pepper around it. (Do wear protective gloves for this.) Cut the peppers in half and remove the seed pods. Shake out the rest of the seeds. Prep the bell peppers and habanero peppers the same way. Place all peppers in bowl of food processor. Pulse on and off until peppers are very finely chopped, but not liquefied. Transfer peppers to eggplant-onion-mushroom mixture in skillet. Add remaining olive oil. Cook and stir over medium-high heat, reducing heat as needed if mixture looks like it may brown. Add fennel seeds, oregano, and a pinch of salt. Cook until peppers are sweet and tender, 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• Stir in white wine vinegar and (optionally) another tablespoon of olive oil. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt, a splash of vinegar, and/or olive oil, if needed. Transfer to jars. Store in refrigerator.

CALABRESE CHICKEN ONE-POT

Steps:

• Heat a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven with extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, over medium-high heat until very hot. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, add to the pan and brown on both sides and cook through. Remove the chicken to a plate.
• Add the salami to the pan and stir 1 minute, then add in the onions, celery, peppers, garlic and stir a couple of minutes more. Add the fennel seed and smoked paprika. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, parsley, and the reserved chicken. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Turn off the heat and cool completely to store for make-ahead meal.
• Reheat in the same pan with a splash of water or stock to get things going. Top with an extra drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and serve with bread crusted up in a hot oven.