The Italian chicken cacciatore is a delicious and tasty meal, a recipe coming from Tuscany but now widespread and appreciated throughout Italy. The Italian chicken cacciatore, cooked with red wine and tomato in a pot, remains soft and succulent, also due to the addition of different aromas (garlic, onion, carrot, celery, rosemary…) that make it particularly flavorful.
The Italian chicken cacciatore is an easy, quick and cheap recipe, ideal for an informal occasion or any weeknights dinner. You can serve the Italian chicken cacciatore with a side of roasted or mashed potatoes, which can absorb all that delicious seasoning.
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Ingredients for the Italian chicken cacciatore
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How to prepare the Italian chicken cacciatore according to the authentic recipe
For preparing the Italian chicken cacciatore you can use a whole chicken or just the thighs. Ask your butcher to cut it into pieces not too large and to leave the skin on.
Thoroughly clean the chicken, passing the gas flame all around the chicken skin if there are any residual feathers. Then prepare the marinade: this step is not essential, but the final result would gain a better taste and a greater tenderness.
Place the chicken pieces in a wide bowl and add a whole garlic clove, a rosemary sprig, a grinding of pepper and a glass of red wine.
Briefly mix everything with your hands, cover the bowl and let the chicken marinade in the fridge from 1 to 8 hours. Then remove the chicken from marinade and pat it dry with paper towels.
Do not throw away the marinade, because you can use both wine and aromas for cooking the Italian chicken cacciatore. Finely chop the carrot, celery and onion.
Finely chop the carrot, celery and onion. Heat the oil in a thick bottomed non-stick pan, then add the chicken pieces taking care to place them with the skin in contact with the pan.
Brown the chicken pieces in the oil for 5-6 minutes on medium heat; then turn them over and let them brown evenly on all sides. Salt them well.
Add a chopped garlic clove, rosemary (you can use those of marinade), chopped celery, onion and carrot.
Stir thoroughly, so that the onion soften up. Then raise the heat and reduce with the wine used for marinating; let it evaporate. Also add the tomato sauce and a pinch of salt.
Stir carefully and cover with a lid. Cook the Italian chicken cacciatore over low heat for about 30 minutes, adding a little water or broth if the seasoning dries out too much.
When the chicken cacciatore is cooked, take off the lid and let it cook for another minutes or two, to thicken the sauce. Then turn off the heat. Serve the italian chicken cacciatore immediately.
Serve the italian chicken cacciatore immediately, with a side of roasted or mashed potatoes.
Storing
If there are any leftover you can store the italian chicken cacciatore in the fridge for a couple of days, closed in an glass container.
Tips and variations
I like to keep the skin on for even more flavour, but you can remove it before cooking. In this case I would increase the amount of oil to 5 tablespoons, or I would add a piece of lard or bacon in the pan, so that the chicken stays soft.
Translation by Giacomo Meucci