Aunt Maryann's Chicken and Rice

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed your time with your families!  I had a great Christmas and unfortunately have ended it with a cold.  I wanted some comfort food and this one has always been like a warm hug on a cold day. Aunt Maryann has been making her chicken and rice for as long as I can remember.  It's famous in our family! It's not the Spanish chicken and rice that probably comes to mind.  This is another one of those red sauce dishes that my family loves.  It's also one of those dishes that is great the next day (just don't heat it in the microwave, it makes chicken taste funny) and I even love it room temperature.  Add peas to it if you'd like to add some color or maybe some chopped parsley for a little pop.  Aunt Maryann doesn't do that but she said it would  be acceptable.   You can use the entire chicken for this recipe but I've been removing the back and the wings and freezing it for stock.  There isn't too much meat there and it will serve me better when I make soup. The only additions I made were adding about 1 tsp Italian seasoning and 2 frozen basil cubes because I like to see the specks of color throughout the dish and I use a whole onion.    Here is Aunt Maryann's recipe as she gave it to me. 

Aunt Maryann’s Chicken and Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 – 16 oz. can Delmonte tomato sauce

1 can water

1 whole chicken cut up and cleaned

½ medium size onion

2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 cups white rice

4 cups warm water

2 tbsp. parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

In a Dutch Oven heat oil and brown chicken.  Remove chicken and set aside.

Lower flame and Saute onion and garlic until translucent.

Add s, and one can of water (from the delmonte sauce) and stir.  Add cheese salt and pepper, stir well. When sauce reaches a simmer return chicken to the pan and make sure it is covered with the sauce, cover with lid.  Let the sauce cook for ½ hour. 

Add 4 cups of water to sauce and let it come to a boil.  Add ½ tsp of salt or to taste.  Add white rice, stir frequently.  Let cook until all liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked approximately 30 minutes.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.