I make this dish all the time, and I’m continually amazed that such a simple combination of ingredients can result in a dish that tastes so special.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and place the dry linguine noodles into it. Cook them until al dente (tender firm). Begin by cutting up the chicken thighs into small pieces. Heat a large skillet until very hot and then generously drizzle in some olive oil. Swirl to coat the pan, then add half of the cut up chicken to the pan, spreading them out as you put them in. NOTE: Do not begin stirring the chicken immediately as you want to get them nice and brown. After a minute or two, flip over the chicken with a spatula. Then let it brown on the other side. After it’s brown, remove it to a plate and set aside. Repeat with the second half of the chicken pieces, remove from the pan and set all of the chicken aside. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil into the hot pan and throw in the chopped onions and the garlic and give them a stir. Now add the wine (or chicken broth), whisking to deglaze the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the liquid reduces by half. Add the two cans of crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the chicken (and don't forget all of those yummy chicken juices), to the tomato/onion mixture and continue simmering for another 15 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking process, chop up your fresh parsley and basil and add it to the sauce, stirring to combine. Place pasta on a platter or in a large bowl and smother with the sauce. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

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Stand back, because I have to get something off my chest: I LOVE BONELESS, SKINLESS CHICKEN THIGHS!

Okay, I’m back and I feel much, much better. No, really. I’m fine. Thank you. Have you discovered boneless, skinless chicken thighs yet? I absolutely love them and they’ve revolutionized my cooking. They combine all the versatility of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but they have an added component: FLAVOR! Flavor, flavor, flavor, and a delightful texture that’ll pretty much steer you away from breasts for good. And if I were mischievous, I’d crack some sophomoric joke right now…but I’m not. So I won’t.

This dish is one of my favorite ways to use boneless, skinless thighs, and it’s so, so simple. Small pieces of chicken thighs are cooked quickly in olive oil over a high heat, then removed from the pan. Then a simple marinara sauce is prepared in the same pan, later reunited with the chicken, and eventually poured over steaming hot linguine. I make this dish all the time, and I’m continually amazed that such a simple combination of ingredients can result in a dish that tastes so special. And the best thing about it? Marlboro Man loves this dish. My four punks love this dish. And I love this dish. The harmony is almost too much to take.

Let’s make it and we’ll see if the same thing happens to your house!

The Cast of Characters: Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs, Linguine (or any pasta!), Crushed Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Wine (or chicken broth), Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Fresh Parsley, Fresh Basil, and Parmesan Cheese.





Begin by cutting up the chicken thighs into small pieces.





Now, chicken thighs are a little tricky to cut up, so it’s VERY important to begin with a very sharp knife. And take it slow.





Slice all the way across the thigh…





Then turn them the other way and finish dicing.





Now you’ve got a great big pile of fabulous chicken flavor! Well, at least you will after we cook them. C’mon. Let’s keep moving.





Get a skillet really hot, and generously drizzle in some olive oil. See those black spots in my pan? They’re the result of my turning on the heat, then walking out of the kitchen and getting distracted for about fifteen minutes. When I came back, the pan was hot. Very hot. And it was mad. I gave it freckles.





Swirl to coat the pan, then add half of the cut up chicken to the pan, spreading them out as you put them in. NOTE: Do not begin stirring the chicken immediately. We want to get the chicken nice and brown, and the best way to do that is not to move it after it touches the pan.





After a minute or two, flip over the chicken with a spatula. Then let it brown on the other side.





After it’s brown, remove it to a plate. Now it’s time to do the second half of the chicken. Don’t worry about the chicken cooking all the way through; it’ll finish cooking in the sauce later.





Drizzle in some more olive oil…





And brown the chicken. Then remove this batch to the plate and set aside. NOTE: Do NOT wash the pan at this point, because we’re gonna want all those brown, flavorful bits in the bottom of the pan.





Now it’s time to chop an small-medium onion. Here’s how I chop onions: Cut the onion in half from end to end…





Then lay each half on the side and cut off the tops.





Peel off the outer skin, then make several vertical slices.





Next, rotate the onion 90 degrees and continue slicing to create a dice.





Thus endeth the onion chopping lesson. Amen.





Hello, pan. I’ve missed you and your brown bits very much. And now, I’m going to heat you up again.





Once the pan starts to get hot, drizzle in some more olive oil.





Throw in the onions…





Chop up 3 or 4 cloves of garlic and throw it in.





Then stir lightly just to combine.

NOW! Grab that glass of wine sitting on the counter. Take a big swig. Thank God for grapes. Then…

Pour the wine into the pan. I used about 1/2 cup. It’ll steam and smell divine. NOTE: If you’re not a wine-o like me, you can use about 1/2 cup of chicken broth and it’ll taste just perfect.





Take a whisk (mine is flat and I love the dang thing) and begin scraping the bottom of the pan, which will loosen all those beautiful brown bits so they’ll wind up in the sauce.





Once you’ve loosened all the bits, let it bubble up and cook for a couple of minutes…





Until the liquid has reduced by half.





Now open up your two cans of whoop ass. Oh my! I mean, open up your two cans of crushed tomatoes. Then pour them right into the pan.





Stir to combine.





Add in a healthy pinch of salt and…you heard me…a healthy pinch of sugar. The sugar will cut down the acidic bite of the tomatoes.





Now reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for a while.





About fifteen minutes into the simmering process, dump in all the chicken, making sure to get all the juices from the plate in there.





Stir to combine, then keep simmering for at least another fifteen minutes. That way, if any of the chicken wasn’t totally cooked, it’ll finish cooking all the way through. Also, the sauce will become richer and absorb some of the wonderful chicken flavor.





Meanwhile, throw a package of dry linguine into a pot of boiling, lightly salted water.

Now, toward the end of the sauce’s cooking process, chop up some fresh herbs. I like to send my punks out to the herb garden, tell them the herbs I need, and see what they come back with. Sometimes, when I say “Parsley”, they’ll come back with a big honkin’ Hosta—roots, dirt, and all. I need to work on them.

Well, whadda ya know? They actually brought back parsley this time! Will wonders never cease?





Go ahead and chop it pretty finely.





Now, stack up about 7 or 8 basil leaves…





And roll them into a nice, horizontal…well…roll.





Then cut the roll into small slices, which will result in a Chiffonade. Everyone say that with me: Chiffonade. Shiff-oh-nod.





Throw all the herbs into the sauce…





And stir to combine. And oh, baby. Let me tell you—it may just look like a boring old chicken/marinara sauce, but those chicken thighs really, really take it over the top.





To serve, just throw the cooked (al dente, please) noodles onto a platter. I bought this particular platter at Sam’s Club in the summer of ’04 in a fit of impulsiveness. I was eight months pregnant and I also bought the then-new Ashlee Simpson CD, which I listened to the whole way back to the ranch. A week later, I dyed my hair black.

I still can’t explain my peculiar actions that summer. But at least I have a bitchin’ platter to show for it.

Okay, now you can pour the sauce right over the top.





And grate some fresh Parmesan over the top. Feel free to go overboard.





I like to slice storebought herb/garlic bread, drown the slices in olive oil, and brown them under the broiler. Then I like to stack them abundantly around the perimeter of the platter. Don’t ask me why. It probably has something to do with Ashlee Simpson.





Now serve up individual portions, heaping plenty of fresh Parmesan over the top. And yes, you can use the stuff in the green can if you want. I give you permission.

Now hurry up and eat!

That’s what I just did.

*Burp* Excuse me.

Love,

Pioneer Woman