Italian Style Chicken Breasts ~One Baking Pan. (It's a KEEPER!)

I've been on a Donna Hay recipe kick lately and, happily, I can't seem to stop. :)
There is a lot to like about Donna's style; her recipes are so flavorful, plus they are generally fast and easy to put together. And here's another one. Thank you Donna Hay!
"Italian Baked Chicken" is my new favorite. Although I think she introduced the recipe about a year ago it's new to me. 
It's very, very tasty ~ 
(It's a two part recipe ~ you partially roast some of theingredients, then you add the chicken and olives andcontinue baking until done.)
Boneless chicken breasts, fresh tomatoes, whole garlic cloves (no peeling necessary), flat pancetta, cubed*, olives, oregano, fresh basil, a littleolive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.
The first time I made it I followed the recipe exactly:
I tossed the tomatoes, pancetta, garlic cloves andoregano in a pan with olive oil, and baked ina 400ºF/200ºC oven for 25 minutes, atwhich point the chicken breasts, olives, and black pepper are added and baked for anadditional 20 minutes or until chicken is tender.
While the flavors were delicious, parts of the tomatoes and pancetta ~(or I should say, my substitute for pancetta) were overcooked by the time the chicken was cooked through. Although it still tasted good, some of the cherry tomatoes haddisintegrated and and stuck to the bottom of the baking dish.  Being that I was a little short in the amount of cherry tomatoes required I had included some Roma tomato halves (they saved the dish and roasted up nicely.)
Later on the internet I found a video of Donna demonstratingthe recipe and realized what she refers to as "cherry tomatoes"are closer to the size of (what we in the U.S.) refer to as betweenwalnut and l little smaller than a golf ball (or huge cherry tomatoes!) I find them here as (small) "tomatoes on the vine".
The second time I made it, I used tomatoes that werelike those described above (halved them) and proceeded with therecipe, except that I reduced the initial roastingtime to about 12 to 15 minutes (your oven may be different,so keep an eye on things) I believe my oven runs a little hot ~In any case, the pancetta cubes should be getting crispy and the tomatoes should be roasting and shriveled.)  
Then I added the chicken and olives and continued baking for an additional 20-25 minutes until the chicken was tender.


This image is just for illustration. If it were in real time, the (raw) chicken breasts and olives would be nestled among the semi-roasted tomatoes, pancetta/bacon/salt pork, garlic and herbs, ready to be put in the oven to finish baking.  The tomatoes would have given up some of their juices and shrunk, pancetta/salt pork would be slightly crispy, and the garlic would have begun to soften.

The surface area of the baking pan you use, and the size of chicken breasts will all affect the baking time as well. The chicken breasts I used the second time were rather large, so I let the initial baking go a few minutes longer, then added the chicken.  Ideally, the pan in this picture would have been a bit larger so the ingredients  wouldn't be so crowded, but I'm sure you get the idea.

*I did not have flat pancetta or slab bacon. InsteadI had some salt-pork in the freezer, so I thawed and usedthat:


(Left stacked together in clumps so they wouldn't over-brown.)
 It was pre-sliced (thick slices) so I cut it into crosswise strips and kept three slices or so of the crosswise pieces together so they wouldn't burn. 

To finish, the recipe suggested serving with some fresh Parmesancheese, I skipped that part and found it perfectly seasoned andflavorful  just the way it was.
Hmm, I want you to know that I've taken longer to explain the recipe than it will take you to put it together!  
If you would like a printable copy of the recipe, it's HERE on my recipe blog.

Thanks for stopping by today ~ I love it when you leave me acomment so I know you've come by.  :)
Blessings!  ~m.

P.S. For those of you looking for the Tulip cupcake/muffin liners I used with the Raspberry-White Chocolate Muffin recipe ~You can purchase them at the King Arthur Flour website. www.kingarthurflour.com 

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