Chicken cacciatore is an Italian dish of chicken braised in a tomato-based sauce and often includes wild mushrooms. It is frequently referred to as "hunter style" as the word cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian. I don't know the source of the name, but someone mentioned that if a hunter came home empty-handed, his wife would kill a chicken for the meal instead.
For this recipe, we used fresh tomatoes and omitted the mushrooms. But you could easily add mushrooms and vegetables such as zucchini or bell peppers.
One 3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onions
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup white wine
2 cups peeled and chopped, firm ripe tomatoes (or canned plum tomatoes in their juice)
1 Rinse chicken and pat dry. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat, add the onions and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally. Push the onions to the side. Add the garlic and chicken pieces, skin-side down. Cook until the chicken skin is golden brown, then turn pieces over and brown on the other side.
2 Season chicken with salt and pepper, on both sides. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and cover the skillet with the lid slightly ajar.
3 Cook the chicken in the simmering liquid, turning and basting from time to time. Cook until the thighs are very tender and the meat is almost falling off the bones, about 40 minutes. If the stew ever starts to dry out, add a couple tablespoons of water.
Serves 4-6.
