catch-a-tori...cacciatore...?...anyway...

So...chicken cacciatore is NOT the fanciest of dishes. But it's a damn good staple to have in your arsenal, because...well...it rocks. It's got chicken, vegetables, a tomato based sauce and either rice or egg noodle. What's not to love. Not to mention if you do it right...you'll most undoubtedly have a great lunch the next day.

So the recipe is basically from that URBAN ITALIAN book I mentioned in the last post. That recipe calls for chicken legs to be broiled with skin on, I ended up using boneless skinless chicken breasts and seared then roasted them with some herbs. The recipe also called for HOT Italian sausage, which is normally pork based, and I used chicken sausage without a casing, but it was flavored with HOT Italian spices...which you can definitely taste in the final dish. This cacciatore has a nice kick to it, which actually caught me off guard, but fear not...I settled into it nicely. This cacciatore is exceptional. As you'll see from the ingredients, it's got a lot of complex flavors layered on top of one another and really finishes rich and chunky and could top just about any meat/poultry...or perhaps just over a bowl of white rice by itself. Here's how I did it...

Chicken

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp butter

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tbsp. dried oregano

2 tbsp. dried sweet basil leaves

salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Heat the olive oil and the butter in a large oven safe saute pan over medium high heat.

Season the chicken breasts liberally with oregano, basil, salt and pepper on both sides. Then place into saute pan and sear for about 2-3 minutes on each side flipping once.

Remove from stove top and put in oven. Roast until chicken is cooked thru and an instant read thermometer stuck in the thickest part of the breast reads 170 F approx 15-17 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to rest.

Cacciatore Sauce

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 links HOT Italian sausage cut into 1/2" rounds

1 onion sliced thin

1 small bulb of fennel sliced thin

1/4 tsp salt

1 clove of garlic sliced thin

1/4 C white wine

3 roasted peppers cut into strips

1 28ounce can of whole tomatoes (San Marzano)

3/4 C pitted green olives chopped/halved (about 1/2 store bought jar-marinated is OK)

1/4 C chopped fresh basil

1/4 C chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large sauce pan. Add the sausage and cook to render the fat, about 2 min.

Add the onion, fennel, and salt. Cover the pan and let the mixture stew until the vegetables are just slightly soft, approximately 3 min.

Add the garlic and stir well to combine. Cook, uncovered, for an additional minute.

Add the wine and cook till the alcohol evaporates, about 30 sec.

Add the peppers and tomatoes and cook, uncovered, for about 20 min. The vegetables will soften, the tomatoes will break down, and the ingredients will come together into a sauce.

Add green olives and mix well. Cook for only a minute to allow the flavors to meld.

Remove from heat and add the basil and parsley. Place the chicken breast into the sauce and mix to coat well. Serve immediately over rice or egg noodles with heaps of sauce on top of chicken.

So see, I wasn't lying...it's not your mom's cacciatore (sorry mom). It's got olives, fennel, sausage and layer upon layer of flavor. A note about the roasted peppers. I roasted my own, but I'm sure store bought will work just as well. I also happened to use champagne instead white wine due to the fact that, being a part of the theater industry yields a bottle of champagne per opening, and I don't happen to drink white wine...so it's what I had on hand. In my book...everything turned out just as swimmingly and I got no complaints. Actually, that's not true...the cat wouldn't shut up cause I wouldn't share. Oh well...the day he grows thumbs and can hold a fork, I'll make up dish for him too. Until then...

Mangia e statti zitto...

cheers...

dunkin