Mia, dearest, I never want you to call me again, ask what to make for a dinner party, and then inform me afterward that you just ordered a pizza instead. So here is a lovely dish that takes just a few ingredients that you should have in  your pantry anyway (go look at the first posts about what you should have on hand for cooking in a pinch); doesn’t take a lot of your time; is hard to screw up; looks beautiful; tastes great; and makes wonderful leftovers.

See this picture? It’s all you need, plus some chicken, to make it.

For four to six people (depending on how much they eat) you need four to six boneless skinless chicken breasts and about four or six boneless skinless chicken thighs. You could use bone in and with skin, but the skin doesn’t crisp. The only issue with using all breasts, particularly if it’s without bone and skin, is that you have to be very careful about over-cooking.

Slice up a lemon, take the seeds out and put it in the bottom of a glass casserole dish. If you have a nice Le Cruset casserole with a lid, it can go from oven to table, like the picture below. Put the chicken on top of that. In a bowl, mix two jars of marinated roasted artichoke hearts, about a cup of sliced crimini mushrooms, a cup of good white wine, a cup of low-sodium chicken stock, the juice of two lemons, about a half teaspoon of salt and some grinds of black pepper. Mix this all together and dump it over the chicken. The chicken should be mostly covered with the stuff from the bowl. If it isn’t, add some more wine and/or stock. Dot the whole thing with a couple tablespoons of butter. Cover with foil or with the lid of the casserole (if there is one).

You can either put it in the oven — 350 degrees for 60-90 minutes, until the chicken breasts are 160 degrees (check after an hour); then take it out and let it sit for about 10 minutes so the chicken can finish cooking and rest to redistribute the juices — or stick it in the fridge overnight and cook it the next day.

Serve it in the dish you cooked it in – it will look soupier this way, as above — or plate it, spooning the chunky stuff over the chicken and leaving the bulk of the juices behind. It’s great over rice, or orzo if you have a child who doesn’t eat rice.

Take any leftover juices and put them in a bowl in the fridge. When they’ve solidified, take the fat off the top. You can use what’s left as the basis of a great lemony chicken and artichoke soup — chop up the rest of the chicken and whatever veggies are left, add it to the defatted contents of the bowl, and thin it out with chicken broth (homemade or not). Add salt and pepper to taste and you have another meal. With salad and bread, even this is company-appropriate.

Enjoy!

* Unless the company is a pack of children or the friends who helped you move or paint your living room.