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For our Thanksgiving dinner, I roasted a chicken, one of a batch locally and organically pasture raised by our friend Don (a.k.a. the accidental chicken farmer). The recipe for the roast chicken (pollo arrosto) is not mine but Thomas Keller's and was described in this guest post. Hence, there was no leftover turkey in my fridge, but leftover chicken (avanzi di pollo) upon which to let my creative juices flow.

To go with the almost five-pound chicken, I roasted two lbs. of locally grown, organic fingerling potatoes. After carefully scrubbing the potatoes, I used my nebulizer sprayer to distribute olive oil over them, then added  a generous amount of finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves, salt and freshly ground black pepper, gave a good stir and baked in a pan at 375 F until done. We partook of the roast chicken and of the potatoes, but left a good quantity on the plate, to undergo some transformation before reappearing on the dinner table.

In a previous post, I have introduced you to lenticchie di Castelluccio, the small lentils that are grown in an area of my home region (Umbria). These are the lentils I grew up eating and the ones I like. I brought back some from my recent trip to Italy. The store in Perugia where I get locally grown legumes is called Bavicchi, in Via dei Priori (downtown), the road that starts under the arch surmounted by the clock (only the top part of the arch is visible in the photo, on the left). As an aside, the reason why I took this photo was because I love the windows of the Palazzo dei Priori. (And I hope you'll forgive me for taking the chance to show you another photo of my home town.)

Not sure what directed my thoughts towards lenticchie while considering solutions for my day-after dilemma, but once that happened, I did not stop until the pairing of the little legumes with my leftovers was a reality held in a bowl. I cooked a cup of lentils in two cups of water with an unpeeled clove of garlic (spicchio d'aglio in camicia) and a bay leaf, until tender (about 20 minutes), then let them rest (after removing the garlic and bay leaf) while I prepared the leftovers. I diced the chicken, saving bones and trimmings to make chicken broth, and then cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces (half-inch slices, actually).

I added chicken and potatoes (including the rosemary bits left behind in the bowl that held the potatoes) to the lentils together with half a cup of homemade vegetable broth and heated until everything was nice and hot. The addition of more broth would have pushed the dish towards the soup camp, but I was happy with a denser consistency. I adjusted the salt and served immediately. A perfect body- and soul-warming dish for a windy day, sunny, but chilly.

This is my submission for My Legume Love Affair – 17th Helping, the popular, legume-centered event that is the brainchild of Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook and is hosted this month by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive .

Here is the roundup. If you could not participate this month, you can check who is hosting the next edition of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

lenticchie di Castelluccio con avanzi di pollo arrosto e patate al forno

or launch the lenticchie di Castelluccio con avanzi di pollo arrosto e patate al forno  audio file [mp3].

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lenticchie di Castelluccio con avanzi di pollo arrosto e patate al forno

Per la festa del Ringraziamento la tradizione vuole che si prepari l tacchino, ma io invece ho arrostito un pollo ruspante del nostro amico Don secondo questa ricetta, e l'ho accompagnato con patate "fingerling" bio cotte al forno (intere) con rosmarino, sale e pepe. Visto che eravamo solo in due, di avanzi ce n'erano a sufficienza per un piatto creativo con le lenticchie di Castelluccio.

Ho cotto 200 g di lenticchie in poco meno di mezzo litro d'acqua con uno spicchio d'aglio in camicia e una foglia d'alloro, poi le ho lasciate riposare mentre tagliavo il pollo a cubetti e le patate a pezzi (di fatto, a fette, dal momento che le patate "fingerling," come dice il nome, hanno la forma di dita). Ho poi aggiunto pollo e patate alle lenticchie (dalle quali avevo rimosso aglio e alloro), insieme a 250 ml circa di brodo vegetale. Ho scaldato tutto ben bene, ho aggiustato il sale e ho servito subito le lenticchie fumanti.