Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore

By Evan Joshua Swigart (TheCulinaryGeek) from Chicago, Illinois, USA; hometown of Ames, Iowa, USA (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Cacciatore is a famous Italian dish which is popular beyond the borders of Italy. Its appeal lies in its simplicity, yum flavors and healthy attributes. It would be a crime to deprive our followers to keep away from this delicious delicacy! Hence, Drilldoggy tweaked few ingredients to make it fit into our concept and more nutritious; much to the delight of health-freaks!

While a cacciatore is basically made with chicken but other variations with salmon or rabbit are also popular among people. When it comes to preparing the dish, every region has its own way of whipping it up. The version from  southern part of Italy are known to be made with red wine, while the one’s originating from the Northern part calls for white wine.

No worries if you are cooking it for your family; ditch the alcohol and stick to rest of the recipe. The beauty   of the dish is that the onions and other vegetables are fried in the fat of the chicken only.  As a result, the oil content in the dish is far less than others. And the tangy, mushy tomato-based sauce makes it taste more yummmmmmm! So watch  out for Chicken cacciatore!

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken (3 lb), chopped into large pieces
  • 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
  • 1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes
  • 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • ½ lb mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 large bell pepper, chopped into 1’’ chunks
  • 3 tbsp olive oil (optional)
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp sea salt

Method:

  • Add a lashing if oil into a large skillet and heat it over moderately high heat.
  • Rub a dash each of seasonings all over the chicken pieces and dump them into the hot pan.
  • Cook each side for 5 minutes or until they brown nicely; drain them out onto piled-up kitchen papers to soak in the excess oil.
  • Throw in the mushrooms as well as the sliced onion into it and sauté for 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
  • Stir in rest of the ingredients and return the chicken into the sauce.
  • Bring it to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer.
  • Continue to simmer for half an hour or until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Serve warm.