Traditional Italian Chicken Cacciatore is a savory, rustic, one-pot chicken stew simmered in a Dutch oven with tomatoes, peppers, and onions and served over pasta.
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Servings 6servings
Ingredients
1whole chickenapproximately 3 pounds, cut-up
¼cupolive oil
1medium oniondiced
4clovesgarlicminced
1ribcelerydiced
1bell peppercut in strips
29ouncescanned diced tomatoes with juice
4springs fresh thyme
1bay leaf
¼cupfresh parsleychopped
salt and pepper
Instructions
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 vegetables begin to soften. (If using wine, add 1 cup after the vegetables have softened. Cook the wine with the vegetables until the wine has reduced by about half its volume.)
Add 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.
Bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for approximately 1 hour. Near the end of cooking time, stir in the chopped parsley. Check and correct seasonings.
Serve over your choice of pasta or polenta.
Notes
Serve this with a long, ribbon pasta such as spaghetti, fettuccini, or linguini. Alternately, it can be served over polenta.
If you have any leftovers you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. It's possible to reheat in the microwave, but you'll have the best results reheating on the stovetop in a covered pan on a medium-low setting.