Chicken Merlot with Mushrooms

This screams comfort to me. It also has a lot of taste, cooked with wine (of course). I’ve cooked Beef with wine, made gravy with wine, but never chicken before. Let me tell you, this is a perfect pair. Slow cooked all day, it’s juicy in every way. You can serve on rice or wide egg noodles.

  When a recipe calls for thighs, take the hint on using thigh meat. This most likely wouldn’t do so good with chicken breast meat, that’s my opinion.  If you have kiddos & don’t want to use wine, you can use chicken broth. I didn’t, just because I was feeling bold and wanted nothing more than the full taste of this. We devoured it, and on a plus side my kids feel right to sleep…. Just kidding 🙂 haha

Ingredients

3/4 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup Merlot or additional chicken broth

2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca  (I didn’t use tapicoa as I don’t care for the taste in anything I cook,  used flour instead towards the end to thicken.)

2 teaspoons sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Hot cooked pasta, optional

Directions

Place the mushrooms, onion and garlic in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Top with chicken.

In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, broth, wine, tapioca, sugar, basil, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender.

Sprinkle with cheese. Serve with pasta if desired.