Chicken Cacciatora
Every year, when Summer arrives I get easily distracted and I tend to spend less time in the kitchen. It’s mid July and I’ve been hiding behind big plates of beef tomatoes and fresh salads. Time for a change!
This recipe is a classic Italian recipe that you would cook during the week without thinking too much about it. If you are Italian you might think it’s a bit of an oldie: the kind of meal your mum would prep for you after a long day at school.
I think this is a delicious recipe with an unmistakable flavour and that we should give it more credit. There is something in the combination of a heavy base soffritto, green olives and herbs that gives you the most fragrant chicken ever.
This recipe works very well with rabbit meat too.
Ingredients
4 Chicken thighs
1 carrot
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 celery stalk
Plain Flour (enough to coat the thighs)
150g of green pitted olives
1 glass of white wine
2 stalks of rosemary
1 handful of sage
1 bay leaf (enough to cover the bottom of your pan)
Salt & Pepper
400g chicken stock (you might not need to use it all)
Step by Step
Thinly chop the carrot onion and celery and pour your olive oil in a pan
When the oil is warm add the onion, celery and carrot and sauté for a few minutes until they are soft
In a separate pan add a drizzle of olive oil, coat your thighs in flour and pan-sear them until they are nice and brown
Now take your thighs and add in the pan with the soffritto along with the rosemary, bay leaf, sage, garlic, salt and pepper. Turn the heat up and pour your glass of wine and cook at high heat for a few minutes until the the alcohol has evaporated
Add a ladle of stock, lower the heat and cover your chicken
Cook the chicken for roughly 20 mins but check it in between and if you feel that it starts sticking to the pan just add another ladle of stock. You don’t have to use all the stock just use it a little bit at a time to make sure the meat doesn’t stick.
Now it’s time to take add your green olives and cook the chicken for roughly another 10 minutes or until ready
Enjoy!
Tip and Cheats
This is really an easy one to make so I don’t feel there are many cheats or ways around the recipe. The biggest trick is to sear the chicken separately. Most recipes call for just dropping the flour coated chicken in the pan with the soffritto. I find that using a different pan gives the chicken the chance to develop a nice and tasty crunchiness.
Enjoy!