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Italy, Europe

Chicken Cacciatore

Italy's hunter-style chicken: bone-in thighs browned golden, then braised low and slow with onion, peppers, rosemary, red wine, tomatoes and olives.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time1 h 2 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsChicken must be cooked all the way through. If the meat near the bone is still pink or the juices are red, keep simmering.

Method

  1. Pat the chicken thoroughly dry with kitchen paper and season both sides with three quarters of the salt and the pepper. Slice the onion 0.5 cm thick, seed the bell pepper and cut it into 1 cm strips, and thinly slice the garlic. Crush the tomatoes by hand.

    Add in this stepBone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 150 g each) 4Salt ¾ tspBlack pepper 2 pinch

  2. Heat the olive oil in a 26 cm wide pan with a lid over medium-high heat and lay the chicken in skin side down. Leave it alone for until the skin is deep golden, then turn and cook for more and move to a plate. If the pieces touch, brown them in two batches so the skin crisps instead of steaming. The inside is still raw at this point.

    Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 1½ tbsp

    medium-high heat

  3. If there is a lot of fat, pour some off, leaving a thin layer. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook over medium heat for until soft, then add the garlic, rosemary and bay leaves and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.

    Add in this stepOnion 1Red bell pepper 1Garlic cloves 2Rosemary sprigs 1Bay leaves 1

    medium heat

  4. Turn the heat up to medium-high heat, pour in the red wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom with a spatula; boil for until reduced by half.

    Add in this stepDry red wine 120 ml

    medium-high heat

  5. Add the tomatoes and remaining salt, then return the chicken and any juices from the plate, skin side up so the skin sits above the sauce. When it bubbles, turn down to medium-low heat, set the lid on slightly ajar and simmer for . It is done when the meat pulls easily from the bone with a fork and the juices run clear (80 °C near the bone).

    Add in this stepCanned whole peeled tomatoes 400 gSalt ¼ tsp

    medium-low heat

  6. Add the olives and simmer uncovered over medium heat for more to thicken the sauce. Fish out the rosemary stems and bay leaves.

    Add in this stepPitted black olives 40 g

    medium heat

  7. Turn off the heat, scatter over the parsley and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving. Great with crusty bread, polenta or mashed potatoes.

    Add in this stepChopped flat-leaf parsley 1 tbsp

Cook's tip

Dry skin spits less and crisps better, so don't skip the patting. White wine works instead of red; for an alcohol-free version use chicken stock with 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar. It tastes even better the next day, so it is a good make-ahead dish.

Cooking it at camp

With a lidded cast-iron pot (Dutch oven) it cooks just the same on a camp stove or over coals; on a fire, move the pot to the edge for a gentle simmer. Keep raw chicken in the cooler below 5 °C and cook it on the first day.