Chicken Cacciatore (Pollo alla Cacciatora)

Chicken Cacciatore... I think I am going to start a list of dishes that are just as much fun to say as delicious to taste... Until today, my favorite dish to say was Sweet Potato Pie (but you have to say that with a Paula Deen accent).

Cacciatore in Italian means Hunter... So, Pollo (chicken) alla Cacciatore means chicken cooked in the style of the Hunter.  In practical terms, it is a chicken braised in liquid flavored with vegetables, stock  and a little wine.  Not only do you get to eat the chicken, but the tomatoes become equally (more) deliciously flavored.  Thus, a terrific one pot meal (but I did make some rice to serve along side).

Oh, and the recipe I found added bacon as well!

This recipe is going to get filed along with "Chicken on Sale" recipes.  You go for a weekly shopping trip and you notice there is an unbelievable chicken sale.  These Leg/Thigh quarters were on sale for just fifty eight cents a pound!  I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes (also bought on sale).  The most expensive part of the meal was the bacon (but I got that on sale and froze on a different trip).  On sale, this dish comes in under $2.50 a serving.

Here's what I did...

Chicken Cacciatore 

(Pollo alla Cacciatora)

Ingredients

• 2 Leg/Thigh Quarters of Chicken
• 2 TBS Olive Oil
• i Medium Red Onion, Large Dice
• 6 Ounces Pancetta or Thick slice Bacon, cut into 1 inch squares
• 2 Small cans Diced Tomatoes
• 1/2 Cup Dry White Wine
• 1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. This is a one dish meal (but keep a plate to set the vegetables aside in after they are softened so you can brown the chicken... But first
3. In a heave bottomed oven safe skillet (I used a cast iron skillet), heated over medium high heat, add the Olive Oil and heat to just before it starts to smoke.
4. Add the onions and bacon and suate for about 5 minutes
5. Move the now softened and cooked bacon, but leave the bacon rendering.
6. Liberally salt and pepper all sides of the chicken pieces.
7. Add the chicken pieces and brown both sides in the bacon fat. (about 2 minutes per side), until there is a crispy brown touch to the skin. Remove from the pan
8. Drain out most of the bacon fat.
9. Add the white wine and deglaze the pan, loosening all of the crispy caramelized bits on the bottom. Add the bacon and onions, the tomatoes and chicken stock.
10. Bring this to a simmer, and rest the chicken on top of the simmering liquid/vegetables/bacon.
11. Move to the oven. I use an instant read meat thermometer with the probe inserted in the thickest part of the thgh. The dish is done when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees. When you remove the skillet from the oven, let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. The temperature will even out to 165 before it starts to drop.
12. If you are cooking by time, 30-40 minutes or when the juices are clear inside the chicken. Make a very small cut in the chicken to check. But know that the more you cut and check, the more likely your chicken will be dried out (no juices are left to make the pieces moist). Use a temperature probe to be sure.
13. Serve over rice, be sure to dish up the vegetables and bacon along with the chicken.
14. Serve HOT and ENJOY!!!

This is a FANTASTIC DISH.  That bacon/tomato/onion mix flavored during cooking with wine and chicken stock really is fantastic along with the chicken.  Served over rice truly memorable.  I may not wait until the next sale!

Chicken Cacciatore IS MORE fun to eat than say.

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So,  I am pleased to list this as one of my Growing list of  "52 Authentic Italian Recipes"!!!

Well over 52 recipes actually as I just can't stop. The world's most popular cuisine, authentic, natural, organic, Farm to Table... the Italians started, perfected or embraced it before it became a fad. This page is a guide to Italian Cooking... For the home cook!  So, Cin Cin (toast) and Buon Appetito (Enjoy your Meal) to you all and let's Cook authentic Italian!

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