Andy Makes Neapolitan Chicken | From the Test Kitchen | Bon Appétit

Rethinking Puttanesca as a Braising Liquor

In this Bon App tit Test Kitchen showcase, Andy Baraghani reimagines a classic Neapolitan tomato sauce—traditionally tossed with long pasta—as a robust braising medium. The core lesson for chefs is the transformation of a quick-cooking puttanesca into a slow-cooked, high-impact braising liquor. By anchoring the sauce with garlic, anchovies, capers, and olives, the chef builds an intense savoury foundation. The technique relies on rendering the fat from the chicken legs directly in the pan, using those rich poultry lipids to bloom the aromatics and dissolve the anchovies, establishing a deep, cohesive emulsion before the tomatoes are introduced.

Achieving the Perfect Slow-Braise

The success of this low-maintenance, one-skillet dish lies in the oven-braising technique. Rather than boiling the chicken on the stovetop, which can tighten the muscle fibres and yield tough meat, gentle oven-braising coaxes the chicken legs to a state of near-collapse where the meat is tender and succulent. Throughout the braise, the chicken skin absorbs the rich pigment and concentrated sugars of the tomato base. A critical culinary pitfall is allowing the sauce to reduce too quickly; a tightly controlled, moderate oven temperature is essential to keep the moisture balanced while the connective tissues in the chicken legs break down.

Operational Benefits for Service

From a service perspective, this preparation offers exceptional operational benefits. It is a highly efficient, prep-ahead dish that actually improves in flavour after a day in the chiller, as the briny elements of the capers and olives thoroughly penetrate the meat. For a busy service, kitchens can easily scale this recipe in large braising pans, portioning individual legs with a generous ladle of the highly concentrated, glossy sauce. This technique demonstrates how classic pasta sauces can be cleverly repurposed to lift rustic, cost-effective poultry cuts.