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Chicken Baked In a Hollowed Breadloaf

                                                               
                                                                                        
Recipe courtesy: Mary Taylor Simeti
Also known as Chicken Awsat, also known as Sala Cattabia, also known as Pasticcio Di Mohammed Ibn Itmnah (Thummah), Emir of Catania (One Easter specialty from the town of Aragona, a timbale in which macaroni and pork take the place of rice and chicken, requires more than three pounds of cheese and a total of forty eggs!)

We opted for this interesting version with chicken in a bread loaf.

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

  One 4-
pound chicken in parts
  One-quarter
olive oil
  2 cups (approximately)
chicken broth
  Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  1 large round loaf of crusty
Italian bread
  1/8 cup toasted almonds
  1/8 cup pistachios
  1 tablespoon capers
  1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  2
eggs, lightly beaten
  Juice of 1 lemon

Brown the chicken in the oil, add 1 cup broth, salt , and pepper, and simmer until tender, adding more broth if needed. Cool the chicken, remove the skin and bones, and cut the meat into small pieces. Reserve both the meat and the broth.

Cut the bread horizontally, a little less than halfway down, so as to make a dish and lid. Hollow out the bread, combine the crumbs with the reserved broth, and press through a sieve.

Grind the almonds and pistachios, together with the capers and parsley. Add to the bread puree together with the eggs and lemon juice. The mixture should be quite moist, so you may need to add an extra tablespoon or two of broth. Combine with the chicken meat, spoon into the bread crust, and replace the upper crust.

Bake 20 minutes in a 350 degree F oven. Serve cold.


The following recipe was taken from POMP AND SUSTENANCE: TWENTY-FIVE CENTURIES OF SICILIAN FOOD
by Mary Taylor Simeti (The Ecco Press, 1998, Reprinted by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.)