Chicken Scarpariello is a real favorite of mine but not always easy to find in an Italian restaurant and it doesn’t usually contain potatoes as my dish does. For the sausage I chose a chicken sausage (which was actually flavored with kale) because it is lighter than a pork sausage, but really you could use any sausage you like. I don’t often use a thickener for gravy but I did in this instance as it suits a good, thick sauce. I cooked each of the ingredients separately and only combined them at the end.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
2 tbsp. olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 chicken breasts
2 large chicken sausages
8 oz. bella mushrooms – rinsed, lightly dried and cut into smallish pieces
8 oz. new potatoes – cut into small pieces
1 tsp. cornstarch
Place the chicken breasts on a piece of aluminum foil in a roasting tin, pour 1 tbsp. oil and the lemon juice over it and season. Cook in the oven for about 40 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Then chop into small bite size pieces.
At the same time cook the sausages – around 20 minutes or so until cooked through. Slice and dice.
In a frying pan/skillet heat the remaining 1 tbsp. of oil seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.Rinse the mushrooms and dry slightly before adding to the pan. You want to cook them for some 10 minutes. Retain the mushroom juices.
Cook the potatoes and cut into small pieces.
Combine the chicken, sausage, mushrooms and potatoes in a serving dish.
In a small bowl stir a little of the mushroom juice and the cornflower until you have a smooth paste. Place the paste in a saucepan and gradually add the rest of the mushroom liquid plus 2 tbsp. of the liquid that the chicken was cooked in. Stir all the time as it will thicken quickly. Dilute a bit more if it gets too thick. When sauce has bubbled for a few minutes pour it over the chicken, sausage, mushroom and potato mixture and serve immediately.
