Polla alla Cacciatora, or the Story of Me and Chicken

If this keeps up, you'll soon be reading Elle's New Chicken Kitchen. That's a mouthful. All chicken, all day! A birthday? Chicken! Special holiday? Chicken!

That doesn't sound all that great, does it? No. So my next post will be cupcakes. But until then, it's chicken!! I just looked, and four of my last twelve posts have been chicken ones. This makes five.
Ah, well. Hopefully you'll all forgive my extreme chickeneyness. (Yep--that's a word. That I just made up.)

This one is courtesy of Saveur. You know how you get little bonus gifts when you subscribe? Well they sent me two little Italian cookbooks when I first subscribed a few years back. I bookmarked a lot of the recipes, and then...someone (ok, me!)...immediately lost the books. I know, right? How can you lose them so quickly? I have no clue. Guess I'm just really good that way.

So fast forward a couple of years--we were moving. I assumed I'd find them then.

No.

Oooooh. Would I find them while unpacking? *fingers crossed!*

No.

Time warp. TWO years later (last week). My daughter is moving stuff around and picks up an old cooking magazine of mine. Because, you know, we all save those, don't we? Because we really will make all of those earmarked recipes. Eventually. Someday. Maybe.

My two missing babie...I mean--books fell out of the magazine. I almost heard the angels singing. Honest! There they were, right there on the floor. It was as if they were glowing, so happy to have been found, to once again see the light of day! (But what really happened was that they fell on the floor in a patch of afternoon sunlight. But hey, I have an active imagination, ok?)

Aha!!! Now I can make that Chicken Cacciatora I've been dreaming about! After all this time! Or... I could have googled, because, you know--it's right there, online. D'oh!



Hunter's Wife's Chicken (Pollo alla Cacciatora) Serves 4

It's Hunter's Style, but it's named in honor of the hunter's wife--the cacciatora, who traditionally cooked it on the eve of the hunt. So there, Hunter!

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 3-lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup dry white wine 1
1 (28-oz). can peeled diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chicken stock (see note!)
2-3 TBSP tomato paste (see note!)

Note: I didn't need the chicken stock, in fact, I opted to thicken it up by adding some tomato paste. But I'm leaving the stock in the ingredient list in case any of you find you do need it.

Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
Add garlic and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes more.
Push onions to sides of pan, then add chicken and fry, turning pieces several times to brown evenly, about 4 minutes per side.
Add wine and let it evaporate, which should take about 5 minutes.
Add undrained tomatoes to the pan.
Stir in bay leaf, rosemary, and parsley (reserving a little for garnish) and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer, for 30 minutes, adding chicken stock gradually (if needed!)as tomato juice evaporates.
Remove chicken from pan, and stir in tomato paste, increase heat to medium and add chicken back to pan.
Simmer 10-15 more minutes until sauce is thickened.
Remove bay leaf and garnish with reserved parsley. Serve with steamed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

To print this recipe, click here!


This dish is wonderful. It makes a thick, rich sauce that coats the chicken nicely. We'll definitely have it again. My husband said it reminds him of the cacciatora he had as a kid. Slightly different, but the closest so far. This is also a very hearty dinner, and I can see why a wife would have cooked it on the eve of the hunt--its good fuel for the hunter.


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