CHICKEN CACCIATORE WITH PASTA

Chicken Cacciatore with Pasta

We have already posted Ricky’s usual chicken cacciatore recipe CHICKEN CACCIATORE which is a one pan meal much like a stew. This chicken cacciatore is served with pasta in a tomato sauce with onions, peppers and mushrooms. I think of cacciatore as being served with pasta, and this version is delicious.

Where did this Chicken Cacciatore recipe come from ?

This was a question Ricky and I had. I mentioned to him one day that my mother’s cacciatore was different from his. We were both kind of perplexed because it is almost certain that Ricky’s mother, Tess showed her how to make it. So why didn’t she serve it at home herself?

Tess and my mother were a very unlikely duo. They found each other through the friendship between Ricky, his sister Maureen and me. Tess was Sicilian, full of gusto, piss and vinegar. My mother was English, rather reserved (at least in public 😉), and proud to have a drop of semi-royal English blood. They were opposite in so many ways, but they were buds.

Like everyone else, my mother loved Tess’s cooking, so my meat and potatoes mother became inspired to dabble in making “spaghetti sauce”. That’s hard to mess up in my book. Her version of chicken cacciatore was a far sight better than most of the meals that graced our dinner table. That’s why it was a memorable one.

Could it be my mother’s own creation?

My mother was a simple cook. She had never been nurtured in cooking. Get it done somehow, don’t worry about the taste, was her M.O. It was never a goal of hers to be a good cook. Good enough, would sum up her attitude about making dinner. She would take out a cast iron skillet, put the heat on high, and the meat of the day would get slapped in. In some recipes, like Ricky’s LONDON BROIL STEAK, searing a piece of meat in a hot skillet is a great way to start cooking a piece of steak, or a thick chop, but then it finishes cooking at a moderate heat, in the oven. My mother’s method of sear until “done” produced a dry, tasteless and tough steak. Skillet or saucepan, everything was cooked on a burner turned to high. I imagine because it would be done faster.

I want to clarify right here and now, that I am very grateful that my mother did her best to feed us every, single, night. For many families in the world, my mother’s burned, dried steak would be a feast. Her dinners were nutritious and well balanced. I had nothing to complain about.

Still, we are taking recipes here, and she didn’t have many good ones. And it seems this concoction was her own. So Ma, I am dedicating this one to you. Your recipe.

Here’s what YOU WILL NEED:

AND

This is WHAT TO DO:

Prepare the chicken for chicken cacciatore:

You can use any cut of chicken you like in this dinner recipe. Using chicken, with the bone in, and skin still on, works best. The juices rendered from the skin and bone add a lot to the flavor and texture of the sauce.

Remove excess skin and fat

You should remove excess fat and skin from the chicken pieces. The thighs will have more to trim. You can see more information about how to prepare chicken pieces for a recipe like this one, in our post Trimming The Fat. It has details and pictures on how to trim the fat and dredge chicken pieces in flour. It’s a closer look at a simple process. Using kitchen shears, not scissors, cut off any excess skin and globs of fat.

Dredge the chicken in flour

When trimmed, pat each piece dry with a paper towel and lightly salt. To dredge the chicken, put the flour in a wide dish. Drag the chicken pieces through the flour until its completely covered and shake any excess off. Then put the pieces on a rack to keep them dry, until you are ready to fry them. If you put them on a flat plate the flour coating will get soggy.

Why are we dredging the chicken in flour?

What is the purpose of the flour? When the light coating of flour is browned in the olive oil, it serves two purposes. The chicken pieces have a light crispy crust and a different flavor and texture than if you had put them in the skillet raw. Also, while you are browning, it is inevitable some of the flour remains on the bottom of the pan. That browned flour will add flavor and thicken the sauce as it simmers.

Prepare the vegetables:

It’s Time to Cook

Fry the chicken

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Pour in the oil and let that get hot. Add the chicken pieces to the hot oil, skin side down. Fry until the skin side is golden brown, It will only take 2 or 3 minutes depending on how hot your oil was, and how cold your chicken was, when you started frying.

Don’t move the pieces around for the first couple of minutes, then you can check to see if the chicken has turned golden brown (like the picture below). Gently turn the chicken over, and fry the other side for a couple of minutes until that side is golden brown also. The best tool to use for turning the chicken is tongs. When you have browned the chicken, it won’t be cooked all the way through. It will continue to cook in the sauce as it simmers.

When your chicken is golden brown on the bottom, you don’t need to turn the chicken again. Leave the skin side up.

Add the other ingredients to the skillet

Add the hand crushed tomatoes with the juice from the can, then add all the remaining sauce ingredients, right on top of the chicken while still on medium high heat.

While you are stirring in the vegetables, gently lift the chicken pieces up so the sauce can get under there. After the sauce has boiled for 3 minutes or so, simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes. Because you are simmering without a cover, the stove, if set at simmer, may not be hot enough to hold a slow boil. Turn the heat up to medium low or a little closer to medium if you need to. The vegetables should be tender in 45 minutes. Boil for 5 minutes or so if they are not as tender as you like.

Boil the pasta

Right before the sauce is done, or right after, cook the pasta according to package directions and drain it. Remove the chicken pieces from the skillet and mix the cooked drained pasta into the sauce.

Serve