Martha Stewart Chicken And Polenta Puttanesca Melts Recipe

Twenty-five minutes from cold skillet to bubbling mozzarella. Martha Stewart’s Chicken and Polenta Puttanesca Melts are made with pan-seared chicken cutlets and crispy slices of precooked polenta layered in a cast iron skillet with a quick puttanesca sauce of olives, capers, garlic, and marinara, then broiled until the cheese melts and everything turns golden.

I had never put polenta and puttanesca together before this recipe and now I cannot imagine them apart. This is one of those chicken cutlet recipes I pull out on fall weeknights when I want something that looks and tastes like effort but barely takes any.

Try More Dinner Recipes:

• Chicken Parmesan
• Puttanesca Pasta
• Chicken Piccata

Why You Will Love These Puttanesca Melts:

• The sauce has real punch: Olives, capers, garlic, and marinara all hit the hot skillet together and the smell is immediate. I know puttanesca sounds fancy but it is really just salty, briny, garlicky tomato sauce. It takes 30 seconds to build because the marinara does most of the work.
• Polenta gets crispy then saucy: You sear the precooked polenta slices until they are golden on the edges, then nestle them back into the sauce where they soak up all that flavour. The outside stays a little firm while the inside goes creamy. That contrast is what makes this dish.
• One skillet, start to table: Everything cooks in the same cast iron pan, then the whole thing goes under the broiler. No baking dish, no sheet pan, no extra pots. I serve it right from the skillet.

Chicken And Polenta Puttanesca Melts Ingredients

• 8 slices (each 1/2 inch thick) precooked polenta, such as San Gennaro (about 12 ounces total)
• 1 pound chicken cutlets (4 large pieces, each 1/2 inch thick)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup mixed pitted olives, halved
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (from 2 to 3 cloves)
• 1 1/2 cups homemade or store-bought marinara sauce
• 3 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, such as Polly-O
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving (optional)

How To Make Martha Stewart Chicken And Polenta Puttanesca Melts

1. Preheat the broiler: Set the rack 6 inches from the heating element.
2. Sear the polenta: Season the polenta slices with salt and pepper. Heat a large ovenproof skillet, cast iron works best, over medium-high and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Cook the polenta, flipping once, until golden and crisp on the edges, about 4 minutes. Move them to a plate.
3. Cook the chicken: Add the chicken cutlets to the same skillet and cook until browned and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Move to the plate with the polenta.
4. Build the puttanesca: Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, the olives, capers, and garlic to the skillet. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the marinara sauce and bring it to a boil. Take the skillet off the heat.
5. Assemble and broil: Nestle the chicken and polenta back into the sauce, shingling the pieces and spooning some sauce over the top. Sprinkle the mozzarella over everything. Broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden, about 4 to 5 minutes. Top with parsley if using and serve straight from the skillet.

Recipe Tips

• Use an ovenproof skillet: This goes from stovetop to broiler, so your pan needs to handle both. Cast iron is ideal. If your skillet has a plastic handle it cannot go under the broiler and the whole recipe falls apart. I learned this the hard way with a melted handle.
• Do not skip the polenta sear: The precooked polenta is soft from the tube. If you skip the sear and just drop it into the sauce, it will fall apart. Those crispy golden edges are what hold the slices together and give you texture.
• Use low-moisture mozzarella: Martha calls for low-moisture on purpose. Fresh mozzarella has too much water and will make the top of the dish soggy instead of bubbly and golden. Polly-O or any deli block mozzarella works.

Why I Keep Polenta Tubes In The Fridge

Precooked polenta tubes sit in my fridge the way bread sits in most people’s pantry. You slice them, sear them, and they are done. Without them this recipe would take an extra 30 minutes making polenta from scratch.

I also use them sliced thick under eggs in the morning or grilled as a side in the summer. They cost almost nothing and last weeks in the fridge unopened.

What Goes Well With These Melts

This is already rich so I keep the side sharp and green. A Greek salad with a bright vinaigrette cuts through the cheese and olives perfectly.

Warm dinner rolls for mopping up the extra sauce from the skillet. That sauce is too good to leave behind.

How To Store Leftovers

The polenta softens overnight as it sits in the sauce but honestly it still tastes great reheated. Fridge for 2 days in a sealed container.

I reheat slices under the broiler for a couple minutes to re-melt the cheese. Microwave works but you lose the crispy top and that is the whole point of a melt.

FAQs

• What is puttanesca? It is an Italian sauce made with olives, capers, garlic, and tomatoes. The name translates loosely and the flavour is bold and salty. Martha uses marinara as the base and adds olives, capers, and garlic to build the puttanesca flavour in 30 seconds.
• Can I use homemade polenta instead of precooked? You can but you need to make it ahead, spread it in a pan, let it set in the fridge, then slice it. That adds at least an hour. The precooked tubes are the shortcut that makes this a 25-minute dinner.
• Can I use chicken thighs instead of cutlets? Boneless thighs work but they are thicker so add a couple extra minutes per side when searing. Pound them to 1/2 inch thick if you want them to match the cutlets. I have done thighs and the extra fat actually makes the dish richer.
• Can I use fresh mozzarella? Martha says low-moisture mozzarella for a reason. Fresh mozzarella releases too much water under the broiler and makes the top watery instead of golden and bubbly. Stick with a deli block or shredded low-moisture.

More Dinner Recipes:

• Chicken Marsala
• Eggplant Parmesan
• Spaghetti Sauce

Nutrition Facts

(1 serving, serves 4)

• Calories: 460
• Total Fat: 22g
• Saturated Fat: 6g
• Cholesterol: 95mg
• Sodium: 1050mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 28g
• Protein: 36g