Name: Pollo alla Mareng (Chicken Marengo)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 garlic clove, crushed; 200 g/7 oz/3 cups mushrooms, thickly sliced; 4 slices white bread, such as ciabatta; 4 eggs; 30 ml/2 tbsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish; juice of 1 lemon, strained; sea salt and ground black pepper; 1.2 kg/2½ lb chicken, jointed; 60 ml/4 tbsp plain/all-purpose flour; 175 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup, plus 60 ml/4 tbsp, olive oil, plus extra if needed; 400 g/14 oz canned tomatoes, seeded and chopped; 5 basil leaves, tied together with white cotton; 175 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup dry white wine

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Italian Regional Cookbook

By Valentina Harris

Published 2017

About

This dish was apparently served to Napoleon and his officers at the end of the Battle of Marengo, using only what remained on the cook’s cart. This explains, one can only presume, the slightly weird combination of ingredients. They taste good, nevertheless. This dish is often served with prawns on top of each egg. If you want to add them, cook the unpeeled shellfish in white wine with a good pinch of salt for about 5 minutes until cooked through.