Chicken Cacciatore
Yield:
6
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour 50 minutes
Italian comfort food at its best! Chicken cacciatore in a rich and rustic sauce with chicken falling off the bone. Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian. In cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared "hunter-style" with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine. Cacciatore is popularly made with braised chicken or rabbit.
Ingredients
- 1 1 broiler/fryer chicken - cut up, (3-1/2 to 4 pounds),
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 1 large green pepper cut into strips
- 2 celery ribs cut into slices
- 1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms , 25 kg
- 1 can tomatoes, cut up and juice reserved , 28 oz. I use fresh tomatoes cut into cubes (800gm)
- 1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz = 225 gm
- 1 can tomato paste, 6 oz = 170 gm
- 1 cup dry red wine or water
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 tbsp sugar, I use panela or demerara sugar
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- hot, cooked pasta, I prefer to use fettuccine noodles or egg noodles
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dust chicken with flour. Season with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, brown chicken on all sides in oil and butter over medium-high heat. Remove chicken to platter.
- In the same skillet, cook and stir the onion, celery, pepper and mushrooms for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, wine, herbs, garlic and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Return chicken to skillet. Cover and simmer for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve over pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Freeze option: Cool chicken mixture. Freeze in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through slowly in a covered skillet until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 165°, stirring occasionally.
