Chicken and olive stew with polenta

We are back from a wonderful summer holiday. A week off cooking for me, so I am ready to be back in the
kitchen.

This chicken and olive stew was our Sunday night dinner, after a four-hour drive home from holidays.

There wasn't much in the fridge after a week away, and the shops are closed here on Sunday so I had to make do with what was in the freezer and pantry.

So, a frozen chook, a few tins of tomato, a jar of olives and a packet of polenta turned into chicken and olive stew with soft polenta.

This dish was lovely to eat on a rainy and cold evening in Vienna. Lots of rich tomato and olive flavours, all sopped up by the yummy polenta. Enjoy with a glass of red wine.

What you'll need

* Serves four people with some leftover.

1 whole medium-sized chicken, chopped into 10 pieces
1 x 250g tin chopped tomatoes
1 x 300g jar pre-prepared olive tomato pasta sauce
1/2 cup kalamata olives
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 cup red wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
2 cups water
1 tbl vegetable oil

1 cup dried polenta
3 cups chicken stock
1 tbl butter

Grated Parmesan cheese to serve

What to do

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the oil, onions and garlic and cook until fragrant and starting to colour slightly. Add the chicken pieces to the pot, stirring to brown all pieces. Once all the chicken is browned, pour in the tomato sauces, herbs, olives, red wine and water. Stir well. The liquid should cover all the chicken pieces. If it does not, add another cup of water.

Bring to a rapid simmer, then cover the pot with a lid and reduce heat to low.

Cook for 90 minutes, or until chicken is coming away from the bone. Remove the lid for the last half hour of cooking to reduce the sauce. Season with salt and pepper towards the end of the cooking, remembering that the olives and tomato sauces will already have salt in them.

Make the polenta while the chicken is cooking.

Heat the chicken stock in a large pot. Once the water is simmering, slowly sprinkle in the polenta, and stir constantly until it is very thick, for about 10 minutes, with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat. Add the butter and stir well to combine.

Pour the hot polenta onto a lined baking tray or large serving platter. Smooth the top and edges with a knife.
I like to have thick slices of polenta, so my polenta 'cake' is about 5cm thick. But you can make it thicker or thinner if you like.  Leave to cool and set for at least an hour. You can place in the fridge to speed up the process. Alternatively, you can serve the polenta 'fresh' while it is still runny. I prefer it set, but it is nice both ways.

To serve, slice the polenta into wide 'fingers' approximately 10cm x 5cm. Place two fingers on each plate. Spoon over the warm chicken stew. I allowed two pieces per person, with lots of sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve while warm.