Chicken Cacciatore is a classic dish with loads of flavour. Today I am going to show you how to make this classic chicken recipe in 35 minutes from start to finish. But first, you may be wondering, what exactly is Chicken Cacciatore? That's a great question. Let's answer that, then get to cooking.
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What exactly is Chicken Cacciatore?
Cacciatore means "hunter-style." Imagine you live in the Italian countryside. You've been out all morning hunting rabbits or birds. You come home with a big appetite and some small game. What do you make to eat? Well, you use whatever kind of meat you have: chicken, rabbit, quail, pheasant, whatever it might be. You sear it in a pan, add some onions, garlic, maybe bell peppers, a bit of wine, some herbs and tomatoes, then you cook it nice and slow for an hour or two. That is cacciatore, and that is what we are going to make. The only difference is that instead of doing it in one or two hours, we are going to make our chicken cacciatore in thirty-five minutes.
Let's get to it.
6:45 pm- Getting Started
It is pretty common to serve cacciatore with pasta or even polenta, but I'm serving mine with rice. Serve yours with whatever you'd like. To get started, combine 1 cup of rice with 2 cups of water and a bit of salt and pepper in a medium pot and put it on high heat. Leave the rice alone until it comes to a boil about 3 minutes later. Once it boils, put a lid on the pot, turn the heat down to low and set a 17-minute timer.
Right before you put the rice on turn a large skillet on medium-high heat to pre heat.
6:47 pm - Seasoning
With the rice coming up to the boil and the skillet heating, turn your attention to the chicken. Use six bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Chicken thighs have much more flavour than chicken breasts, and they also retain more moisture when cooked, which makes them perfect for this type of dish. Seasoned the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper.
6:48 pm - Let's Get Cooking
When the rice boils, put a lid on the pot, turn the heat down to low and set a 17-minute timer. Your skillet should be hot by this point, so add in 2 teaspoon of olive oil and place the chicken thighs in skin side down. Leave the chicken alone to cook for about 6 minutes. The idea here is that you want to get a nice deep golden brown colour on the skin before you flip it.
6:50 pm - Onions & Garlic
While the chicken and rice are cooking, prepare you other ingredients. First up slice 1 onion and 3 cloves of garlic, then set them aside.
6:52 pm - Red Bell Pepper
Next up, cut the lobes off of 1 red bell pepper by starting at the top of the pepper, and using your knife to cut down while following the natural curve of the vegetable. Once you have all 4 lobes cut off, the pepper cut them in half, then slice them about a ¼ inch thick and set them aside.
6:54 pm - Flip the Chicken
At this point, the chicken should be golden on the skin side. Flip the chicken and let it cook for 1 minute, then take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside.
6:56 pm - Onions and Garlic
Once the chicken is out of the pan, drain off all the excess fat leaving about 2 teaspoon then added in the onion. Cook the onions for about 3 minutes before adding in the garlic and cooking for 1 more minute.
7:00 pm - Wine
Add a ½ cup of white wine along with a ¼ teaspoon of dried red chilli flakes into the pan if your pan is still how the wine will cook down very quickly. You want the wine to almost entirely evaporate before you move on to the next step.
7:01 Chicken Stock
With the wine and chillis in, it is now time to add in a ½ cup of chicken stock, 1 ½ cup diced canned tomatoes (I used baby San Marzano tomatoes.) and 1 tablespoon of dried oregano.
7:03 pm - Chicken and Herbs
With the base of the sauce now firmly established, it is time for the chicken to go back into the pan. It's also important to pour in any drippings that have accumulated on the plate the chicken was resting on. This can add a surprising amount of flavour back into the dish. Along with the chicken add in 1 sprig of rosemary and 2-3 sprigs of thyme.
Put a lid on the skillet, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it cook for 5 minutes.
7:08 pm - Basil
While the chicken cacciatore simmers take a small handful of basil leaves, roll them in a tight "cigar" shape and slice them very thin.
7:10 pm - Peppers & Olives
Let the cacciatore simmer for 5 minutes, then add in the bell peppers and 12 green (cerignola) olives. Put the lid back on the pan and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Your chicken may cook a little faster or a little slower. It's essential to confirm that your chicken is cooked all the way by checking the temperature with a thermometer. The temperature of the cooked chicken should be a minimum of 165°F.
7:20 pm - Chicken Cacciatore
To finish the chicken cacciatore add in the fresh basil and served it up over the rice.
Conclusion
Make this dish. Seriously. Make it! Even if it seems a little weird to you, take a little step outside your comfort zone and give it a shot. You will be so, so happy that you did.
There are few dishes that offer such a heartwarming and soul-filling eating experience. This is one of those dishes. True, and absolute comfort food. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 6 Bone-in, skin-on Chicken Thighs
- 1 med. Onion, Sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic, Sliced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, Sliced
- ½ cup White Wine
- ½ cup Chicken Stock
- 1 ½ cups Canned Tomatoes, Diced
- ¼ teaspoon Chilli Flakes
- 12 Green Olives
- 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano
- 1 sprig Fresh Rosemary
- 2 sprigs Fresh thyme
- ¼ cup Fresh Basil, Sliced
- 2 teaspoon Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 cups Cooked Rice
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper.
- Add 1-2 teaspoon of Olive Oil to the pan.
- Place the chicken in the pan skin side down.
- Let the chicken cook for 6 minutes or until golden brown.
- Flip the chicken and sear for 1 more minute.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Drain excess oil from the pan and add in the onion.
- Cook the onion for 2 minutes then add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute before adding in the wine and the chilli flakes.
- Cook the wine for 1 minute, then add the chicken stock and cook for 1 more minute.
- Next up add in the tomatoes, oregano, season with salt and pepper and add the chicken back into the pan along with any accumulated drippings.
- Put a lid on the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add in the red bell peppers and olives then cook for 5 more minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Finish the chicken cacciatore with fresh basil.
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