You need:
- a chicken thigh per person (buy the best quality chicken you are able to afford)
- a large onion
- a tin of tomatoes
- half a green pepper and a quarter of a yellow red pepper
- a clove of garlic
- a glass of wine
- a glass of water
- a bay leaf
- a quarter of a teaspoon of chopped rosemary (if you do not have rosemary do it without it as it is not worth buying it just for this - I always have a have a rosemary plant in my kitchen, which is good for cooking and in Mediterranean culture is also meant to bring good luck, though only if somebody gave you the plant as a present)
- olive oil
- salt
Salt the chicken. Heat a bit of olive oil (4 tablespoons more or less) in a frying pan and fry the chicken on both sides (2-3- minutes each side) until it becomes golden. If you do not mind carbohydrates you can dust the chicken thighs in flour before you do this and as a result you will get a heavier sauce at the end. When the chicken is golden on both sides take it off the pan and reserve it .
In a large pan add a bit of the oil that you have used for frying the chicken. And the onion (diced) and peppers (also diced) and let them fry over low to medium heat for 4-5- minutes. Then grate the garlic, add it to the pan and wait for another 3-4 minutes. Increase the heat to maximum hight. Put the chicken on top of the vegetables, add the tin of tomatoes, the glass of wine, water, bay leaf and rosemary. Let it all bubble for a couple of minutes and then lower the heat and let it simmer for a good half an hour.
I do not want to enter into the polemic about deep-fat- fryers that seems to have gripped parts of the country, but the most authentic way to eat this is with fried cubed potatoes or french fries.
