Cooking With Pablo: Chicken Cacciatore

In this edition of Cooking With Pablo, were going to do one of my favorite one pot dishes: Chicken Cacciatore.  Cacciatore means “hunters stew”.  This would be a dish that hunters would make while on long hunting trips with whatever game they caught cooked with whatever vegetables were available.  Today it more traditionally served with a tomato sauce over pasta or rice.

Ingredients

• About 1 lb of chicken.  I prefer using thighs or other dark meat, but chicken breast will work too
• 2 cans of stewed tomatoes.
• 1 small onion, diced
• As much garlic as you like, this is a lot for me
• Fresh Basil
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Salt and Pepper

In a large skillet, brown the chicken in some olive oil over medium heat.  You just need to brown the sides, so 4-5 minutes on each side.  Remove the chicken from the skillet,add the onion and reduce the heat.  Sauté the onion until slightly caramelized.  Then add the tomatoes, garlic, basil, thyme and oregano.  Allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes or so, then use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes.  Add the chicken back to the pot and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is done.  Serve over pasta or rice with grated parmesan cheese.

Variations

Add mushroom, red peppers or whatever vegetables you like or are handy.

Add about 1/2 cup of dry white wine and reduce for a brighter sauce.