How to make Pollo all’ Arancia

What is Pollo all’ Arancia

Pollo all’ Arancia is a zesty chicken dish in a tasty orange sauce. Sicilians love oranges. In fact Sicily grows some of the best oranges in the world. For this reason, they love to use them into their meat dishes wherever possible.

Normally you would associate cooking oranges with the French Duck á la Orange. But whatever the French can do, the Sicilians can do better. And in this case chicken and orange is just delicious. The feature of the dish is the tender pieces of chicken scented beautifully with the taste of orange.

Pollo all’ Arancia is a secondi or main course meal which you can servce on its own or with some simple seasonal vegetables. It is a perfect light, fruity summer dish that would work well at any summer party or just for a mid-week treat.

Arab Influence

Pollo all’Arabica is a legacy of Sicily’s Arab occupation that shaped the island’s cuisine during the 9th and 11th centuries. They brought with them ingredients like citrus fruits, almonds, rice, and spices, which are still essential in Sicilian cooking today. In this recipe, the use of oranges with chicken gives a flavourful, slightly sweet, and savory dish that’s as unique as Sicily itself.

It’s an excellent example of the cultural blending in Sicilian cooking, bringing together flavours of the Mediterranean with spices and fruits that were once imported to the island through trade routes.

Arabs also introduced advanced agricultural practices, which enabled the cultivation of sugarcane, citrus groves, and olive trees, and they used these ingredients to create new dishes that would become staples of Sicilian cuisine.

How to Cook Pollo all’ Arancia

You just need to follow a few very simple steps to make this zesty orange chicken dish.

Dust seasoned chicken pieces in seasoned flour. Then cook them in olive oil until brown on all sides. And then make a delicious sauce with white wine and the juice and zest of some fresh oranges.

Buon appetito! 🇮🇹

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How to make Pollo all’ Arancia

Pollo all' Arancia is a zesty chicken dish cooked in orange. Sicilians love oranges and love to incorporate them into their meat dishes wherever possible. Here they dust seasoned chicken pieces in flour. Then cook them in olive oil until brown on all sides. And then make a delicious sauce with white wine and the juice and zest of some fresh oranges.

Ingredients

• 2 large oranges
• 6 chicken thighs (skin on)
• 125 ml white wine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 heaped tsp plain flour (and enough for flouring the chicken)
• 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley (chopped)

Instructions 

• Zest and juice 2 oranges and set aside.
• Season and flour the chicken thighs and then sauté the chicken in oil till golden brown on both sides.
• Add the white wine to the pan, which should be hot enough to make the wine sizzle. Allow the white wine to deglaze the pan, and reduce by half, then add in the orange juice and half the zest.
• Reduce to a low heat and simmer very gently for 30 minutes.
• Remove the chicken pieces and set aside. Season the sauce and stir well. Then add a heaped teaspoon of plain flour and stir well to remove any lumps and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.
• Return the chicken to the pan, and simmer gently for a few miniutes, then service with a slice of orange and garnish with some chopped parsley and the remainder of the orange zest.