If you asked me to pick one cuisine that was my absolute favorite (other than traditional southern, of course), I’m sure it would have to be Italian. I just enjoy everything about it. So much variety! All the different pastas! All the different sauces! Lovely sausages, tasty pizzas. The wonderful ways they treat vegetables. I’m certainly no expert, but I would have to say that it is possibly one of the most varied cuisines in the world. And, best of all, BeeBop likes it too. And most children do as well. I mean really, kids and pizza…enough said.
Since I was in the mood for something Italian yesterday, I drug out my big Dutch oven and made some Chicken Cacciatore. Which is just a slow cooked Italian chicken stew, isn’t it? Serve this over some pasta with a side salad and some good garlic bread. A simple stew that is a Sunday evening feast.
1 whole chicken, approximately 3 pounds, cut-up
¼ cup olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 bell pepper, cut in strips (any color you wish – I just happened to have red and yellow)
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes with juice
3-4 springs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
Wipe the chicken dry. Salt and pepper well on both sides.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. Brown the chicken in batches to prevent overcrowding of the pan. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Add the onions into the Dutch oven (no need to clean it out first) and cook for 3 minutes, or until they begin to brown slightly. Add the garlic, celery and bell pepper and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the tomatoes, thyme and bay leaf. Stir well.
Add the chicken back to the pan along with any juices that accumulated on the plate while the chicken was resting. Try to nestle the chicken pieces down into the tomato sauce so that they’re covered as much as possible. Bring it all to a gentle simmer. Then cover the pot and cook for approximately 1 hour.
Near the end of the cooking time, stir in the chopped parsley. Check and correct seasonings.
Serve over your choice of pasta.
Enjoy!
Download a printable copy here.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I love how the color of the tomato just jumps out at you. Very inviting to the fork. I’d love some of that right about now. Yum!!!
If I had a way to pack some of it up and ship it to you I’d do it!
It’s been way too long since I’ve had this dish…thanks for inspiring me to recreate it again!
You’re welcome! Have fun trying an old classic once more.
I love this recipe! and a beautiful photo! I have also made polenta with stone ground cornmeal, milk, and chick stock and served it with chicken cacciatore.
Oh, yeah. Polenta would be perfect with this. Thanks for reminding me!
Looks delish! I love anything in the stew category. I bet the flavors were amazing!
That looks great! My husband especially loves cacciatore.
The first picture is great. It screams ‘Eat me!’.
I make this for dinner parties, but saute a bit of pepper bacon to render some fat and add olive oil before sauteing the chicken. I omit the celery, but add chopped Tuscan kale and red chile flakes.
My rugby friends love it after a match with a cold beer or two.