RECIPE: Make Gio’s Chicken Amalfitano Sorrento Chicken
I love Antico Pizza and Gio’s Chicken. I had a wonderful meal of the Sorrento Chicken and a side salad of mixed greens. The salad had a vinaigrette with lots of herbs and lots of flavor. Could you possibly get the recipe for both the Sorrento Chicken and the Italian vinaigrette? — Anne Stanley, Atlanta
The Sorrento chicken at Gio’s is (so) wonderful – bursting with lemony goodness – that I’d be surprised if you didn’t already run it. If you haven’t, please can you get the recipe? And while you’re at it, their house dressing is the bomb. Perhaps they’d share that as well. — Meredith Rubel, Marietta
This Sorrento Chicken has been wildly popular since the day that Giovanni Di Palma, founder of Antico Pizza, opened Gio’s Chicken Amalfitano. Follow the recipe and the result is chunks of tender chicken breast and wedges of roasted potato, served with a rich, lemony broth. A tip from Di Palma: rather than make your own chicken stock, use Better than Bouillon soup base, available in the soup section of many grocery stores. Both the chicken and potatoes can be seasoned ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 2 hours. When you’re ready to roast, if you’re pulling directly from the refrigerator, add a few minutes to the roasting time.
Our recipe calls for the sauce to be made with olive oil and lemon juice, but if you visit the market at Gio’s, you can buy their olive oil already infused with Sicilian lemon. Use that for the sauce in place of the olive oil and fresh lemon, but also as part of the dressing for a bright green salad you’ll want to serve alongside the chicken. While Di Palma was happy to share the recipe for the chicken, the house dressing (an Italian vinaigrette) remains a secret.
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
- Salt and pepper
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
- 4 lemons, divided
- 2 russet potatoes
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons grated Romano or Parmesan
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, for garnish
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a roasting pan.
- Put the chicken breasts in a large bowl and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Use your hands to rub the oil on all sides of the chicken. Generously sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper. Rub chicken with 1 teaspoon oregano, again making sure to season all sides. Arrange breasts skin-side up in prepared roasting pan. Quarter one lemon and add to the pan. Roast until chicken reaches 165 degrees, about 50 minutes.
- As soon as the chicken goes in the oven, prepare potatoes: Rinse and dry potatoes, then cut each lengthwise into 8 wedges. Lightly grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Put potatoes in baking dish and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Generously sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon oregano. Bake until potatoes are tender and lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm.
- While chicken and potatoes are roasting, prepare the sauce: In a large skillet, combine remaining 1/4 cup olive oil with the zest and juice of one lemon along with the juice of a second lemon. Add the broth, Romano or Parmesan, garlic and remaining 1 teaspoon oregano. Bring sauce to a simmer and keep simmering until ready to use.
- When the chicken and potatoes are done, remove the chicken from the oven and switch the setting to broil. Discard the lemon that was roasted with the chicken. Cut each chicken breast into two or three pieces and put into skillet with sauce. Baste chicken with sauce for 3 minutes, then return to roasting pan and run under broiler until the skin is lightly charred and crisp. Put the potatoes under the broiler to crisp as well. When everything is ready, arrange each serving by putting 4 wedges of potato and the pieces of one chicken breast into a rimmed soup bowl. Divide sauce evenly among bowls and garnish with slices of the remaining lemon and chopped parsley. Serves: 4
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 678 calories (percent of calories from fat, 59), 42 grams protein, 29 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 45 grams total fat (9 grams saturated), 115 milligrams cholesterol, 249 milligrams sodium.From the menu of...Gio’s Chicken Amaltifano, 1099 Hemphill Ave. NW, Atlanta. 404-347-3874, littleitalia.com.
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