Italian Chicken

This is another of my quick and easy recipes.  I came up with this my self one evening when I had no idea what to make for dinner, I had chicken defrosted and needed something to do with it.  We were tired of stir fry and did not want chicken sandwiches.  So I grabbed some ingredients from the pantry and came up with this.  I will try to quantify the recipe but it is never the same twice since  I don't measure the ingredients, I just put in as much as I want when I am making it.

Since I whipped it up on the fly we refer to it in my house as Italian ass chicken.  

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Tomatoes, diced
Olives
Olive tapenade
Olive oil
Basalmic vinegar
Minced garlic
Parmesan cheese
Mozzerella cheese
Cream

Cut the chicken into cubes, season with salt and pepper.  You can also use an Italian spice mix, garlic, basil, oregano or what ever strikes your fancy  Put the olive oil into a heavy saute pan and once the oil is hot add the chicken.  Saute the chicken and once it is cooked remove it from the pan, put on a plate and set aside to stay warm. 

Wipe the exces oil from the pan then add the tomatoes (I usually use canned since this is not usually a meal that is planned in advance), garlic and olives to the pan and saute about 2-3 minutes.  Add about a tablespoon of the tapenade (or more if you want) and mix to combine.  Add the basalmic vinegar and stir.  I don't always use cream but if I do it is just a splash to lighten the sauce up. 

Return the chicken to the pan and stir it into the sauce.   Let the chicken warm up in the sauce and let the sauce reduce a bit to thicken.  Add the parmesan cheese stir and serve on rice.  Sprinkle with the mozzrella cheese.  You can also serve on GF pasta as well.

This makes wonderful leftovers.  I have two kinds of tapenade in my house.  I was using the mild one until I ran out and now all that is left is the hot.  Since it is really hot I use less of it and add more olives into the sauce.  The tapenade adds a wonderful briny olive flavor to the dish.  You could also use capers for the same effect.  I have also served this with artichoke asiago bruchetta topping on the side.   You can very the seasonings to taste.  Right now I am hooked on a seasoning mix from Penzey's spices that is is wonderful on the chicken.   But you can use as much or as little of anything you want.  If there is something you feel must go into an Italian chicken dish put it in.  You could slice up pepperoni and add it in when you add the chicken back to the pan.