Elaine Cooks

I love these chicken wings, and they are fun to make…and enjoy while watching the Super Bowl from home. This is admittedly not Italian, but just a great tasty recipe that I enjoy making year over year with family and friends, particularly for the Super Bowl (for 2025: Go Eagles! Go Chiefs!), one of the most-watched sporting events in the World. And… they are gluten free – and baked and/or broiled (NOT breaded and fried!).

This recipe requires some prep work…but…worth it!

Mangia!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of chicken wings
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1 tsp canola oil, plus extra canola oil to spray the baking tin
• 1/2 tsp chili pepper
• 1/8 tsp habanero cayenne pepper (which may be substituted with 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper)
• 4-5 tsps hot sauce (note: I like Franks or Cholula Hot Sauce for this recipe, but Tobasco or Tapatio Hot Sauce can be used but adds more vinegar to the wings, and so use less, about 2-3 tsps) – (further note: chicken wings typically, when ordered, are offered in various spicy options, for example, mild, medium, hot, nuclear, or even atomic. When making from home, consider your tolerance for spice on your wings, and adjust accordingly)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Blue Cheese dipping sauce of your choice. To make things simple, I recommend selecting a quality brand, which may be purchased at your local market
• Celery and carrots, sliced thin

Instructions

Chicken wings are usually sold whole (and can be prepared whole using this recipe), but I prefer to separate each wing into a drumette and a wingette, and cut off the wing tips, making them easier to eat.

First, preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut down each Chicken Wing

1. To cut down each whole chicken wing into a drumette and wingette, first, stretch the wing and leg apart (this can make it easier to open up the joint combining them). Using a large cutting knife, cut through the joint. Repeat this same process to cut off the wing tip (from each wingette). Set aside the drumettes and the wingettes, either discarding the wing tips (or, for your consideration…reserving them for your next batch of chicken broth!)
2. I like to skin the drumettes. Using a few dry paper towels, pull off the skin of each drumette. Discard the removed skin (I don’t recommend reserving the removed skin for chicken broth, unlike I have with the removed wing tips (see above), as the skin would add an unnecessary amount of fat).
3. This same method to remove skin can be used with the wingettes. It can be a bit more difficult, however, to remove the skin from each wingette (but removing some skin is, I think, better than keeping all of the skin on).

Prepare the Coating for the Chicken and Mix

First, place the trimmed drumettes and wingettes into a large mixing bowl. Coat with the canola oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Gently mix and set aside.

Separately, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Mix in the chili pepper, your choices of cayenne pepper and hot sauce. Pour the mixed melted sauce over the chicken and coat gently in the same mixing bowl using tongs.

Lay a sheet of tin foil over a large baking sheet and lightly spray with canola oil (to prevent sticking) and spread the seasoned chicken on it. Place in the oven for 20 minutes, turning at such time and baking for a further 20 minutes.

Turn the oven to broil. Once preheated, broil, watching carefully and turning once, to achieve a crisped texture all over, but avoiding burning (no more than 3-4 minutes per side).

Assemble a Serving Platter of the Chicken Wings

On a platter, lay out the chicken, accompanied by the celery and carrot sticks. Spoon the dipping sauce into a separate bowl, and, of course, leave out 1-2 bottles of hot sauce for anyone to add and enjoy!

Buon Appetito!