Chicken Vesuvio

Named after the Mount Vesuvius volcano near Naples, chicken Vesuvio is a specialty of Chicago's Italian-American restaurants. The dish is made with chicken on the bone, potatoes, olive oil, white wine, garlic, and oregano and finished with green peas. Lemon juice is also often a common ingredient in chicken Vesuvio recipes. In Chicago, this cooking technique is sometimes applied to other foods as well, like steak Vesuvio, pork chops Vesuvio, or even just Vesuvio potatoes. Although the origins of this Italian-American classic remain unknown, some speculate that chicken Vesuvio got its name after the fact that adding wine to the oil causes the dish to smoke like a volcano, while others suggest that it might have been popularized by the Vesuvio restaurant, which operated in Chicago in the 1930s.