Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Grapes and Rosemary

Inspired my recent trip to Montalcino 🍇

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The leaves have started to turn their beautiful yellow and reds as autumn settles in for another year. Our unseasonably warm autumn days have been giving way to the cool night air. Having just returned from Montalcino, my mind is still filled with images of grapes being harvested from the vines, the end of what proved to be a rather challenging year for the vineyards.

I was fortunate enough to be visiting friends when a tractor arrived from the fields, overflowing with plump Sangiovese grapes. I watched in awe as they were shoveled into the machine that separates berries from stems and sends them on their way to work their magic into wine. And I was fortunate enough to be visiting another friend who gave me a taste of the young fresh juice straight from the tanks, having just been pressed a day earlier – the first step on their long road to becoming Brunello.

Beautiful Sangiovese grapes fresh from the vine

Now back in the US, I occasionally find beautiful black grapes at the local market that are closer to what I find in the market in Montalcino but mostly I can only find the classic red or white varieties that are common here. Lacking the depth of flavor that I find in Italian grapes, I am obsessed with roasting them. A few minutes in a hot oven transforms a simple grape into a juicy, intensely flavored morsel in minutes. They are magical when tucked alongside chicken or served alongside an aged pecorino adding a sweet note to the savory flavors.

You can learn how to roast grapes and a few ideas on what to do with them in our post HERE 🍇

One of my favorite ways to roast grapes is alongside chicken, elevating the humble chicken thigh into a magical meal, elegant enough for company. The crispy-skinned chicken is topped with the rosemary-scented shallot and grape pan sauce warm from the oven. This also works great when roasting a whole chicken.) If you are a blue cheese lover (me!!), you can sprinkle crumbled blue cheese over the pan while still warm from the oven, creating a deliciously creamy savory/sweet combination.

Break open a bottle of earthy red (of course a Brunello or Rosso from Montalcino is my preferred! 💃🏻) and enjoy this simple yet heavenly combination.

Buon autunno a tutti 🍇

xx Michele

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Get the recipe on OurItalianTable.com!