I love pollo alla cacciatora, aka, the chicken cacciatore. This hearty italian dish literally means chicken in the hunter's style. This should tell you that it is meant to be a nice rustic rendition of chicken stew. I used to prefer a more bastardized version of it where I made this primarily with onions, peppers and tomatoes. But as I matured, my taste buds also matured and I started refining this dish to where it's a lot closer to its traditional origins. I love this dish because firstly, I love slow braised meats in whatever form or flavor. Secondly, I love doing easy one pot dishes which makes life easier, prep quicker and leftovers tastier. I have started to incorporate beans into this dish to make this a true 1 pot dish. But if you like, you can skip the beans and serve this dish with pasta or some warm crusty bread. If you are like me, trying to cut down on carbs, beans are the way to go. I also like using the whole chicken, its more economical, more natural and I like having a variety in different cuts of the chicken. If you want to go all legs or breasts, feel free to do so.
Lou's Pollo alla Cacciatora
1 whole chicken (3-4 lb bird) cut into 10 pieces (legs, drumsticks, wings, breasts cut in half)
flour for dusting
1 red pepper - sliced thickly
1 medium onion - sliced thickly
1/2 cup of black olives (i prefer the sun dried Moroccan style ones, but you can use whatever you like)
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| mise en place |
1 thick slice (size of pinky finger) of pancetta (about 100g) diced up
6 cloves of garlic crushed
2 sprigs of rosemary
3-4 bay leaves
1 can of premium tomatoes (crushed by hand)
2 cups of nice red wine (italian preferred - i.e. chianti)
2 cups of dried white cannellini (white kidney) beans - soaked overnight
1 cup water
Salt and pepper
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and dust with flour.
3. Heat heavy oven proof pan with oil to medium high heat (I use my large Le Crueset casserole pan, any large dutch oven will do)
4. Working in batches, brown the chicken pieces on both sides, flipping only once (2-3 minutes each side)
5. Set chicken aside when done
6. Lower heat to medium, add pancetta and brown for a couple of minutes
7. Add garlic, anchovy, olives, onion and peppers and let these carmelize together (about 4-5 minutes)
8. De-glaze with red wine and let it reduce in half
9. Add can of tomatoes you have hand crushed already, 1 cup of water, rosemary, bay leaves, and beans
10. Cover and bring to a simmer
11. Put the pot into the oven and let it braise for 1.5 hours
12. Remove from oven, let rest for 10 minutes and serve.
Enjoy!
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