Rao’s Chicken Scarpariello (Shoemaker’s Chicken)

By Jason Epstein

Rao’s Chicken Scarpariello (Shoemaker’s Chicken)
Michael Kraus for The New York Times
Total Time
About 1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
4(1,565)
Comments
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Chicken scarpariello, also known as shoemaker's chicken, is a classic Italian-American dish of chicken, sausage, vinegar, onions and peppers that has all the flavors and textures: Tangy and rich, spicy and sweet, tender and crunchy. Our version is adapted from one found on the menu at Rao's, the reservations-impossible Southern Italian restaurant and celebrity hangout in Harlem. It starts with pan-frying chicken pieces and Italian sausage in a little olive oil until golden brown. Bell peppers, jalapeños, onion and garlic go into the pan and are sautéed until soft. All of that – plus hot peppers, potatoes, vinegar and wine – goes into a roasting pan and into a hot oven until the sauce thickens and the chicken is cooked through. (The potatoes are totally optional, by the way, but they are a nice, pillowy counterpoint to the prickly heat of the peppers.) Serve with a hunk of good bread to mop up the sauce.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 3pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and breasts, breasts cut crosswise in half
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 links Italian sausage (2 hot and 2 sweet), about 1 pound
  • 2 large bell peppers (red, yellow or green), seeded and cut into thin strips
  • 2 jalapeño peppers, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into thin slices
  • 1 large sweet onion, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 4to 8 hot vinegared cherry peppers (or peppadew or pepperoncini), left whole
  • 2to 3 small red potatoes, peeled, sliced and boiled until tender, but not mushy (optional)
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • ¼ to ½cup red wine vinegar, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

871 calories; 59 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 27 grams monounsaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 51 grams protein; 1444 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. In batches, brown the chicken, skin side down to start, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add the sausage and sauté until brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. (They will not be cooked all the way through at this point.) Remove with a slotted spoon, cut into 1-inch slices and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Remove all but 2 tablespoons oil from the pot and sauté the bell peppers, jalapeños, onion and garlic until soft and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Return the sausage to pot, add the cherry peppers, potatoes (if using), chicken broth, wine, vinegar, oregano and season with salt and pepper. Gently mix together, then transfer everything in the pot to a roasting pan. Nestle the chicken in the vegetables and sausage and roast in the oven until chicken is cooked through and sauce has reduced slightly, about 30 minutes.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,565 user ratings
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Comments

April Foux

Really fantastic recipe! I suggest substituting black pepper for the red and green peppers; also instead of chicken, use sausage, and instead of sausage, use chicken. Finally, try cooking this while Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is at its apogee; really adds some je-ne-sais-quoi to the flavor.

dimmerswitch

Whaad-are-you-kiddin-me?!? As close as it comes to the best-of-all versions of this dish I have enjoyed at a long time family owned Italian restaurant in my Italian hubby's Brooklyn neighborhood. Just right. (Or "joosta" as my in-laws would say.) My revision here is that you really do not need 1 1/2 C of vegetable oil to brown the chicken. Requires much, much less. Use olive oil.

Erik Zenhausern

To make it even simpler I used a large "Le Creuset" type pot. Cooked everything in the pot according to the recipe. Instead of transferring to a roasting pan, I left it in the pot and used convection roast, which gave it a nice browning. After 15 minutes I flipped the chicken over. I think a touch of rosemary would be a nice addition. One of the best chicken scarpariello recipes I've made.

SherylC68

I have the Rao's cookbook and this version was MUCH simpler and IMO better. Used only BI chicken thighs which I salted with rosemary and thyme salt for an hour first. I added 1 TBSP butter to the oil - left out the jalapenos - and definitely added the potatoes. Did the whole thing on the stovetop and finished in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes - but I cooked the chicken and sausage almost all the way through first. Absolutely delicious and so simple.

Nick from Harlem

I made this for friends on Christmas! I first had Chicken Scarpariello in Boston's North End and it became my all-time favorite red sauce joint dish, but I never thought to make it myself! My friends and I all went back for seconds (and 1 of them went back for 3rds). The day before cooking I marinated the chicken in white wine, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and fresh thyme. For cooking, I used white wine vinegar instead of red wine vinegar and did not use jalapeño.

Annalisa

I added more potatoes (6-8) to ensure there were enough to match the number of servings. Otherwise have prepared multiple times exactly as written.

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