Oltranti and his family prepare this dish with rabbit, but it's equally appealing with chicken. Roasted with super-savory pancetta and olives, the garlicky meat stays moist in a shallow bath of white wine.
Ingredients
2 chickens (about 3 1/2 pounds each), backbones cut out and each chicken cut into 12 pieces (see cooks' note, below)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped thyme
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 (1/4-inch-thick) slices pancetta, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup dry white wine
24 oil-cured black olives
Directions
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
Toss chicken with oil, thyme, rosemary, sea salt, red-pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon pepper, rubbing mixture into chicken.
Arrange chicken, skin side up, in 1 layer in a 17-by 11-inch 4-sided sheet pan. Scatter garlic and pancetta on top and roast until chicken begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Drizzle wine over chicken and roast 8 minutes more. Scatter olives over chicken and roast until skin is golden brown and chicken is cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes.
