Mary Taylor Simeti's Chicken Baked in a Hollowed Bread Loaf

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.

Servings: 8 to 10

Source: Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food by Mary Taylor Simeti (The Ecco Press, 1998)