J’s family were coming over for dinner and I wanted something simple and quick, yet tasty. I decided on chicken cacciatora, an Italian classic favourite. It is simply put. chicken cooked in a rich tomato gravy, served over mash or boiled potatoes. Definitely heartwarming if served on a cool evening. Though the dish made from the original recipe was tasty and flavourful, I felt it could do with more heat. Hence, in the recipe below, I upped the original amount of crushed red peppers. If you prefer less heat, you can decrease the amount to suit your palate.
One thing we realized when cooking this dish is that the brand of canned plum tomatoes used matters a lot. We usually use the brand Cirrio, which has a good balance of sweetness and tang. This time however, J wanted to try another brand, Lutti. I realized that the tomatoes from the latter brand were a lot more tangy. The resulting taste was not quite balanced and I had to add some sugar towards the end to balance the flavours.
Chicken Cacciatora
Serves 4 to 5
Recipe adapted from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria
Ingredients:
1 chicken (1.5 to 2 kg), cut into 8 to 10 serving pieces
Sea salt and black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 onion, minced
2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp crushed red peppers flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 can of Italian plum tomatoes in juice, crushed
3 sprigs of fresh parsley
3 pieces of bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried crushed rosemary
Method:
- Season the chicken liberally with salt and black pepper.
- In a large skillet, combine oil and butter over high heat. When hot, add several pieces of chicken and cook on the skin side until it turns an even golden brown.
- Turn over the chicken pieces and brown the other side. When all pieces are browned, transfer them to a platter.
- Add the onions, celery, crushed red peppers flakes and salt to the same skillet and cook over moderate heat until the onions and celery are soft and translucent.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and their juices to the skillet. Add in the remaining herbs and stir to blend. Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes.
- Bury the chicken pieces in the sauce, and simmer, partially covered, until the chicken is cooked through, another 25 minutes more.
- Remove the parsley sprigs and bay leaves.
- Transfer the chicken to warmed dinner plates, along with the sauce. Serve with mash potatoes or boiled potatoes.
