Skillet Chicken With Silky Peppers and Green Olives

I've been making a variant of this for at least 40 years. The major difference is I make it as a pilaf with saffron. The original recipe is in Richard Olney's "Simple French Food". It is one of my favorites.

I throw in sliced mushrooms as part of the saute, a sprig of rosemary and thyme, and serve with pasta and freshly grated parm - a light chicken cacciatore. Great recipe!

This was great! We substituted the olives with capers (heaping Tbsp) as was suggested in the article about this dish. Had only boneless skinless chicken thighs and didn't want to make an extra trip, so I pounded them, lightly floured (flour, salt, pepper, fresh oregano), sautéed lightly each side, then proceeded. Only 10 minutes back in pan to cook through. The flour from the chicken thickened the sauce a bit I think - was great over rice. Will try again with skin on.

I find the skins of bell peppers hard to digest, so I place them on the grill on my gas stove, no oil, and let them get blackened all over. Then I place them into a covered bowl for one hour. The blackened skins are then easy to slip off under running water. No need to stand over the stove while the peppers are blackening, just check them every so often.

Variations. Add thinly sliced onion (about half an onion) along with the peppers at Step 4. Cherry or grape tomatoes (12-18) are a good substitute here for one medium tomato. For mushroom fans, add a cup of sliced fresh mushrooms for the last 5 minutes of cooking. They play nicely with the peppers.

A bit of preserved lemons with the olives makes this pop.

Used boneless skinless thighs worked great

10/19/21 add white wine to simmer peppers/tomato & chicken MORE peppers ADD onions

3/4 cup drained canned fire roasted tomatoes would make a good substitute.

Delish! Added seeded jalapeño slices and crumbled dry cayenne peppers with garlic. Once you put the lid on (even ajar), you lose the crispy skins nestled in the juices. Maybe try finishing in medium oven next time - w/o lid. Finished with parsley. Lemon slices aren’t optional - really make it perfect. Will def make again.

Winner! Simple, adaptable, tolerant of dynamic schedules…What’s not to like?

Delicious with crusty bread. I did find the peppers on sale because it is the tail end of their season as noted in the intro. My olives weren’t good so I subbed capers: 3-4 tablespoons were a bit too salty but the flavor was great. Parsley added a lot, and I would definitely use the lemon. Frying time on the chicken was a bit less than called for—it blackened around the edges—and I poured off some rendered fat before adding the second spoonful of oil for the peppers.

The tomato just adds a flavor boost. The bulk of the flavor comes from peppers, garlic, olives and herbs.

Wow, is this super! Colorful & straightforward with delicious bright flavors. Didn't seem enough liquid to simmer that long partially covered, so I put the lid on tight like a braise. More liquid was released by the vegetables: I could have trusted! Great base formula for substitutions, sure, but the flavor combination as written is SO fresh and tasty. Track down those Castelvetrano olives. Finest Melissa Clark!

Although written as "a skillet dinner," this recipe works even better combining stove-top cooking with oven roasting. Roast seasoned chicken thighs in a 400 oven until done and skins are crispy. While chicken is roasting, prepare the peppers - tomato jam in a cast iron skillet stove-top. Cook some basmati rice simultaneously. When chicken is done, stir pan drippings into peppers to achieve silkiness. Nest thighs and olives in peppers, warming together, but don't cover. Serve over rice.