Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Somehow I have never had the classic French dish Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic. With my love of garlic, this seems like a huge oversight! I adapted this recipe from a Cooking Light recipe.

The garlic cloves are simmered in a broth until tender and work to lightly perfume the chicken. If you’re a garlic lover like me though, I suggest spreading the softened cloves on to crusty pieces of bread — they turn into a wonderful paste that is oh so tasty!

Because of the large number of cloves you need for this recipe, I suggest just buying pre-peeled cloves – it will save you a ton of time, making this an easy weeknight meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

• 40 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 24 (1/4-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette
• Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Add the butter and oil to a large saute pan or cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme evenly over chicken.

Add half of chicken pieces to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add garlic; cook 1 minute or until garlic begins to brown, stirring frequently.

Arrange the chicken pieces on top of the garlic.

Add the broth and wine.

Cover and cook 25 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup.

Serve sauce and garlic with chicken and bread. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

The garlic becomes so soft and buttery that bread is an absolute must with this dish! The chicken stays super tender and is infused with a subtle garlic flavor without being overwhelming. For such a comforting meal, this recipe is easy enough to make on a weeknight, ready in about 40 minutes!