Ingredients: 8 chicken thighs 2-3 tablespoons of bacon fat 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste 1 large onion, sliced thin 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1-14 ounce of crushed tomatoes couple squirts of Worchestershire Sauce 1 couple of flour (seasoned with 1 tsp. of Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp. of ground black pepper & 1/2 tsp. salt) 3 peppers, sliced in thin slivers (I used 1 red, orange and yellow pepper) 1 tsp. Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste 1 cup of red wine 4 tablespoons of cream cheese 2 large bay leaves 1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley
Directions: I used non-organic chicken thighs so I let them sit in the fridge in a large bowl of cold water with about 1 cup of salt for approximately one hour minimum. After an hour, I rinsed them well, patting them dry before dredging them in the seasoned flour.
Turn your oven to 375 degrees.
Heat up a large skillet on top of the stove on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of bacon fat to the pan and brown the chicken thighs for a couple of minutes before flipping them on the other side for another few minutes. You are not intending to cook them all the way through.
Place the thighs in a large casserole dish (I have a beautiful cast iron one with a lid but if no lid, you can use aluminum foil to cover it).
In the same skillet, add your minced garlic, the drippings leftover from the chicken, the tomato paste and cook the garlic for a few minutes. Next add the crushed tomatoes, Worchestershire sauce, bay leaves, another sprinkle of Italian seasoning and red wine. Simmer this mixture on medium-low for about 10 minutes. Add the cream cheese and turn off.
Slice your peppers and onion and add to the chicken thighs in your casserole dish. Cover with the tomato sauce and place covered in the hot oven. Cook for the first hour at 375 degrees and then reduce to 325 degrees, uncovered, for the second hour. Before serving remove the bay leaves, take off any grease that might be on the surface and add the chopped parsley. This is delicious served with pasta; I actually served it with spaghetti squash and pesto and that was also very yummy!
