Zizzi's Casareccia Pollo Picante Recipe

1

Comforting pasta, juicy toms, cleansing spinach and grilled chicken all wrapped up in a silky, fiery sauce, Zizzi's Casareccia Pollo Picante is unimaginably simple to create and everything you'd wish for in comfort food. Keep reading for the recipe I nabbed from one of their fine chefs. 

You will need:

Chicken breasts

Cherry plum tomatoes

Spinach

Casarecce pasta

Double cream

Belazu Harissa paste - this is the key, no other harissa paste will do I'm afraid!

Seasoning

Olive oil

*Edit* Without trying to sound too bigheaded, I'd consider myself quite a confident cook (certainly better than these old photos might suggest ha!) For that reason, and the fact that I make this dish intuitively, entirely to my own taste, the original recipe did not contain weights and measures.

I have had feedback though that measurements would be helpful for those that need them or as a starting point, and so here is a rough guide:

- a chicken breast per person
- 1 tsp - 1 tbsp rose harissa (you can always add more at the end as it doesn't need cooking out so I'd start with less if worried and adjust to your own tastes).
- 50ml double cream
- a punnet of cherry toms (~180g)
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 250g pasta
- enough pasta water to loosen the sauce to your preferred consistency (~50ml or more)

Pour your pasta into salted, boiling water. You can find this variety at most large supermarkets but feel free to swap it out for any pasta shape you like.

Season your chicken with sea salt, cracked black pepper and any bottled seasoning you fancy (I used this one today) for extra flavour. Pop into a hot pan with a little olive oil, cook through, remove and slice. (For ultimate authenticity, slap your chicken onto a hot griddle for charred, smokey bar marks.)

For the sauce, add a rounded teaspoon full (it's fiery stuff!) of the harissa paste into the chicken pan, followed by a good glug of cream, a few tablespoons of starchy pasta water and the tomatoes.

Add your chicken back to the pan, followed with the spinach. Stir together and simmer for a few minutes. Check for seasoning and piquancy; I like mine quite fiery so a little more harissa, if it needs calming, more cream or pasta water. 

Serve up piping hot with intensely garlic-y ciabatta and a chlorophyll-filled side salad.

Enjoy!