chicken cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore has got to be one of the best recipes when you are entertaining. It is a sophisticated and very tasty dish that is easy to make and never fails to please. It is one of those dishes that you need to keep as an easy backup recipe for anytime entertaining, it uses sage and rosemary which are just fabulous with chicken so when you next want to impress with no hassle at all, give this ChickenCacciatore recipe a try. This is not a traditional cacciatore because I really love red peppers and add them in but you can happily leave them out (perfect for 4 or 5 people)

What you need

3 teaspoons crushed garlic
6 fresh sage leaves
1 pinch of fresh rosemary (should be about 10 leaves or so)
1/2 teaspoon dried red chilli flakes (optional)
2 red peppers sliced
10-12 chicken pieces –  legs and thighs (can be done skin on or off)
150g Olives
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 x 420g cans chopped tomatoes
Olive Oil

The process

In a heavy based pan on a medium to low heat, add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, toss in the garlic, rosemary and sage leaves. Allow them to cook for about 30 seconds or so and then, if you are adding a little heatto your cacciatore, toss in the chili flakes and cook them for another minute or so.

Now increase the heat to medium high and brown your chicken pieces on both sides. This should take about 10 minutes or so. Add the red peppers and allow to cook for another 10 minutes, giving them a stir from time to time.

Once the chicken pieces are nicely browned and the peppers are beginning to soften add the wine and the olives, give it a stir and allow to simmer until the liquid has reduced by about half or even more. This should take about another 10 minutes or so and you should move the chicken pieces around every now and then.

Now stir in the tomato puree, add the tomatoes and a little extra liquid (water) if need be, reduce the heat to medium and leave to simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on.

If you are preparing ahead you can now remove from the heat until about 1/2 an hour before you are ready to serve. When you are ready, place on a medium to high heat, bring to a simmer and allow it to simmer with the lid off for another 20 minutes or so until the sauce has thickened a little and the liquid reduced.

Season with salt and pepper, taste, stir, taste, ok thats enough now… Serve.

This is great to serve with rice, mashed potatoes or crushed potatoes and a side salad. Try a few of the other easy chicken recipes.