This amazing Chicken Ragu is the ultimate in easy comfort food! It takes hardly any effort, cooks in the oven, and is big on flavor! You can serve it over pasta, gnocchi, cheesy polenta, or mashed potato for a delicious family meal that everyone will love. Add a side salad and some garlic bread, and dinner is done. It is the perfect family meal, or serve it to guests, I know they'll be impressed.
To serve the pasta (assuming you are using all of the ragu)
1.65lbdried egg pappardelle pasta(see note 2)
1tablespoonsalt
¾cupheavy cream
¾cupgrated parmesan plus more to serve
Instructions
To cook the Chicken Ragu
Preheat oven to 325˚F/160ºC.
Season the chicken thighs all over with salt.3 lb/ 1.36kg chicken thighs2 teaspoons salt
Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Pour in the oil, and once hot, sear the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side. Leaving the oil in the pan, remove the chicken thighs from the pan and set it aside in a bowl.¼ cup/ 4tablespoons olive oil
Reduce the heat to low, add the chopped onion, carrot, and celery and sauté for 15 minutes until colored but not burn.2 carrots2 large onions2 stalk celery
Add the garlic and saute for a minute.6 cloves garlic
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.2 tablespoons tomato paste
Turn the heat back to high and add the wine scraping at the bottom to remove any browned bits.1 cup/ 250ml wine
Add in the bay, thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, and fennel. Then stir in the canned tomatoes, broth and salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer.2 bay leaves1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme1 ½ teaspoons dried ground sage1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary1 teaspoon dried oregano1 teaspoon dried ground fennel1 28oz/800g can crushed tomatoes1 cup/ 250ml chicken broth or stock½ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon black pepper
Add the chicken back into the pan, along with any juices that have collected. Cover the pan and place it on the bottom shelf of the oven.
Cook the chicken for an hour.
Remove the pan from the oven and use two forks to shred the chicken thighs Leave it as chunky or a fine as you like. Stir the chicken into the sauce.
At this point, the sauce can be cooled and refrigerated, or frozen. (see bulk of post for details)
To serve the pasta (assuming you are using all of the ragu)
Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the salt and cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the packet suggests.1.65 lb/ 750g dried egg pappardelle pasta1 tablespoon salt
Reserve 2 cups of the pasta cooking water, drain the pasta and add it to the dutch oven of ragu.
Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Bring to a simmer and stir constantly for 2 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. If the sauce starts to look dry, use some reserved pasta cooking water to bring the consistency to your liking.¾ cup/ 180ml heavy cream¾ cup/ 75g grated parmesan
Serve with extra parmesan.
Notes
You can use red wine or white wine for this recipe. Both give a great flavor. The photos in this pot were taken with chicken ragu cooked with white wine. If you don't drink alcohol, then you can use extra chicken broth.
You want a wide noodle like pappardelle or fettuccine. Or go for a chunky shape like a rigatoni.