Chicken Alla Cacciatora Recipes

HUNTER'S CHICKEN STEW (POLLO ALLA CACCIATORA)

Steps:

• Chicken cacciatora seems to be reasonably well known in Britain because it's the classic pre-packed dish you find in Italian food ranges in supermarkets (which, to be honest, never taste of much). When you get the real deal cooked at home with love and passion it's a totally different experience. It's a simple combination of flavours that just works really well. Cacciatore means 'hunter', so this is obviously the type of food that a hunter's wife cooks for her fella when he gets home from a hard morning spent in the countryside. This is also a great dish for big parties, as it looks after itself in the oven. In the picture I've made it for about 12 people.
• Season the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper and put them into a bowl. Add the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs and the crushed clove of garlic and cover with the wine. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight in the fridge.
• Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade, and pat dry with kitchen paper. Dust the chicken pieces with flour and shake off any excess. Heat an ovenproof pan, add a splash of olive oil, fry the chicken pieces until browned lightly all over and put to one side.
• Place the pan back on the heat and add the sliced garlic. Fry gently until golden brown, then add the anchovies, olives, tomatoes (broken up with a wooden spoon) and the chicken pieces with their reserved marinade. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid or a double thickness layer of foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours.
• Skim off any oil that's collected on top of the sauce, then stir, taste and add a little salt and pepper if necessary. Remove the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs, and serve with a salad, or some cannellini beans, and plenty of Chianti.

CHICKEN ALLA CACCIATORA

Steps:

• Put the oil in a deep skillet or flameproof casserole, preferably nonstick, with a lid. Turn the heat to medium-high and wait a minute or so, until the oil is hot. Add the chicken, skin side down. Season it with salt and pepper and brown it well, rotating and turning the pieces as necessary, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off the excess fat.
• Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, juniper berries, and bay leaves, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and let it bubble away for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and the chicken. Stir, then partially cover the pan; reduce the heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Garnish and serve.
• It's perhaps odd that this variation begins "omit the chicken," but aside from that the recipe is markedly similar: Omit the chicken. Brown about 1/2 cup minced pancetta or bacon in 1 tablespoon olive oil and leave it in the skillet. Proceed with step 2. After adding the tomatoes, cook a pound of broad, long pasta, like fettuccine, and toss it with the sauce. Good with or without freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

POLLO ALLA CACCIATORA (CHICKEN CACCIATORE)

Steps:

• Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan set over medium-high heat. Stir in the peppers and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Stir the mushrooms into the pan and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and brown lightly on both sides, about 15 minutes in all. Remove the chicken from the pan to a platter and set aside. Pour the wine into the pan and stir to incorporate any cooking juices. Add the garlic, onions, and rosemary and cook until the onions are slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, crushing them with your hand or the back of a slotted spoon as you add them to the pan. Return the chicken to the pan, along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Stir the peppers and mushrooms into the chicken. Return to a simmer, cover, and cook to blend in the flavor of these ingredients, about 10 minutes. The stew may be set aside at this point for several hours before reheating and serving with bread to dip into the sauce. Variation: Rabbit cut into serving portions may be substituted for the chicken. Omit the peppers. Quarter rather than slice the mushrooms. To the basic recipe add 2 all purpose potatoes, peeled, halved and each half quartered. Stir these into the stew at the same time the rabbit is returned to the pot. stir 6 kalamata olives into the stew along with the mushrooms during the last 10 minutes of cooking.;

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Sprinkle the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour to coat lightly.
• In a large heavy saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, saute it in 2 batches. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the bell pepper, onion and garlic to the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, capers and oregano. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes for the breast pieces, and 20 minutes for the thighs.
• Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter. If necessary, boil the sauce until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Spoon off any excess fat from atop the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with the basil and serve.

CACCIATORE CHICKEN

Steps:

• Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until softened. Add the tomatoes, rosemary and seasoning, and cook for 10-15 mins until thickened.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the chicken on a baking tray, top with the sauce and bake for 15-20 mins until cooked through. Serve scattered with basil, with your favourite veg, if you like.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN CACCIATORE, SICILIAN-STYLE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in the melted butter until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic salt; cook and stir until the mixture just begins to boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; add the chicken and cook until the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the bones and skin from the chicken, returning the meat to the pot.
• Heat 3/4 cup of the reserved liquid from the tomatoes in the microwave until just warmed. Stir the flour into the tomato liquid until thick. Add to the stockpot and stir continually until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and allow to sit for about 15 minutes.
• While the chicken mixture rests, bring a large pot of lightly-salted water to a boil. Stir the spaghetti into the water and return to a boil. Cook until the pasta is slightly tender but still firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain. Ladle the chicken mixture over the drained spaghetti to serve.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Put the vinegar, wine, rosemary leaves, and garlic in a small bowl.
• Put the extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet and turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and sauté until lightly browned. Add salt and pepper.
• Stir in the flour.
• Add the vinegar-wine mix, turn the heat to high and let the liquid evaporate.
• Turn the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for about 30 - 35 minutes or until the chicken becomes tender. Stir occasionally to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan.
• In case there is too much liquid when the meat is almost ready, remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate until the sauce is thicker.
• When the chicken is ready, add the anchovies to the skillet, stirring vigorously for a few seconds until dissolved. Serve hot.