Pearls Chicken Cacciatore Recipes

HUNTER'S CHICKEN STEW (POLLO ALLA CACCIATORA)

Steps:

• Chicken cacciatora seems to be reasonably well known in Britain because it's the classic pre-packed dish you find in Italian food ranges in supermarkets (which, to be honest, never taste of much). When you get the real deal cooked at home with love and passion it's a totally different experience. It's a simple combination of flavours that just works really well. Cacciatore means 'hunter', so this is obviously the type of food that a hunter's wife cooks for her fella when he gets home from a hard morning spent in the countryside. This is also a great dish for big parties, as it looks after itself in the oven. In the picture I've made it for about 12 people.
• Season the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper and put them into a bowl. Add the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs and the crushed clove of garlic and cover with the wine. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight in the fridge.
• Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade, and pat dry with kitchen paper. Dust the chicken pieces with flour and shake off any excess. Heat an ovenproof pan, add a splash of olive oil, fry the chicken pieces until browned lightly all over and put to one side.
• Place the pan back on the heat and add the sliced garlic. Fry gently until golden brown, then add the anchovies, olives, tomatoes (broken up with a wooden spoon) and the chicken pieces with their reserved marinade. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid or a double thickness layer of foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours.
• Skim off any oil that's collected on top of the sauce, then stir, taste and add a little salt and pepper if necessary. Remove the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs, and serve with a salad, or some cannellini beans, and plenty of Chianti.

HUNTER STYLE CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large pot over low heat, and cook and stir the garlic until tender but not browned, about 3 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes with their juice, and mash with a potato masher to leave the tomatoes in chunks. Stir in tomato paste, red wine, sugar, oregano, basil, salt, and black pepper, and mix until the tomato paste is smoothly combined into the sauce. Bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring often, while you prepare the vegetables.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the carrot and celery until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir into the sauce. In the same skillet, cook and stir the green peppers and onions until the onions are translucent, 5 to 8 more minutes; mix them to the sauce. Heat 1 more tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet, and cook and stir the mushrooms until they give up their liquid, about 10 minutes; stir the mushrooms into the sauce. Allow sauce to simmer while you cook the chicken.
• Beat the eggs in a bowl. Place the flour in a separate shallow bowl. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip chicken pieces in egg, then dredge in flour. Tap off any excess flour, and brown the chicken pieces in the hot oil until browned on both sides, about 15 minutes. Set the chicken pieces aside.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Spoon about 1 cup of the tomato sauce into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Place the chicken pieces into the Dutch oven, and pour remaining sauce and vegetables over the chicken; cover.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is tender and no longer pink inside, about 1 hour. If sauce begins to boil harder than a simmer, reduce oven heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• About 15 minutes before serving time, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in the linguine pasta, bring back to a boil, and cook, stirring often, until the linguine is tender but still slightly firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the pasta well.
• Turn the linguine out onto a large platter, and top with the chicken and sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan cheese to serve.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Sprinkle the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour to coat lightly.
• In a large heavy saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, saute it in 2 batches. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the bell pepper, onion and garlic to the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, capers and oregano. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes for the breast pieces, and 20 minutes for the thighs.
• Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter. If necessary, boil the sauce until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Spoon off any excess fat from atop the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with the basil and serve.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE FOR FOUR

Steps:

• Place flour in a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken and shake to coat. In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil on both sides. Remove chicken to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. , In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender. Add the tomatoes, pearl onions, broth, tomato paste and seasonings. Bring to a boil; pour over chicken. , Cover and bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Add olives; bake 15 minutes longer. Discard bay leaf. Serve with pasta.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large ovenproof pan.
• Dust the chicken with flour and brown the pieces on a high heat.
• Remove the chicken, lower the heat and add the onions.
• Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and red peppers and fry for 2 minutes.
• Turn up the heat, add the wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and stock, and stir well.
• Return the chicken to the pan with the sauce and let the mixture reach a bubbling point.
• Lower the heat until the stew slowly simmers and continue to cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and tender.
• Add the capers at the last minute and sprinkle the parsley upon serving.
• Serve with buttered pasta.

BONELESS CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels, then season with a few pinches of salt and pepper.
• Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet or braiser over medium-high heat. One by one, dredge the chicken thighs in flour, shaking off any excess flour, and place in the heated skillet. Simmer the chicken until the exterior is just browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside on a plate.
• Add the garlic, pearl onions, and mushrooms to the skillet. If you need a bit more oil, add it now. Simmer, scraping up pan bits and drippings from the chicken, stirring them in with everything else. (This will add a lot of extra flavor.) Simmer for until garlic is fragrant-about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and herbs, and stir to coat the veggies. At this point, slowly pour the wine into the skillet along with the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, and olives. Add salt and pepper, bay leaves, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Bring the heat to low, transfer the chicken to the skillet nestling it into the sauce, and cover the skillet. Let the chicken simmer in the sauce for about 20 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and the chicken has an internal temperature of 165º F.
• Serve over pasta, grains, or spiralized veggies.

PEARL'S CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a nonreactive, large, deep skillet over medium heat.
• Add the onions and bell peppers and cook until the onions are translucent and the peppers are soft, 5 minutes.
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables to a bowl.
• Add the chicken and brown on all sides, 3 minutes per side.
• Return the vegetables to the pan, add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaves, oregano, salt, celery seeds, and pepper and stir well.
• Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick, 45 minutes.
• Slowly pour the wine into the skillet and stir to combine.
• Cook for 2 minutes more and serve.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. When the pot is hot, add the olive oil. Add the chicken and sear it on both sides until it is golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set it aside.
• Add the mushrooms and bell peppers to the Dutch oven. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper, and cook until they have softened a little bit, about 8 minutes.
• Add the wine and cook until it has reduced by half. Add the marinara sauce and the basil, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Add the browned chicken, pushing each piece down in order to submerge it as much as possible in the sauce. Cover the pot and bring the stew to a simmer. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired, and serve.
• Fat: 38.1g (before), 6.9g (after)
• Calories: 670 (before), 240 (after)
• Protein: 26g
• Carbohydrates: 12g
• Cholesterol: 95mg
• Fiber: 2g
• Sodium: 348mg