Pollo alla Cacciatora - Hunter's Chicken Stew

Hunter's Chicken is found across Northern Italy, with many variations. This version uses boneless chicken thighs and breast pieces and is full of onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

Yield:
Serves 4 persons with leftovers
Category:
Chicken & Other Birds
Cuisine:
Italian

INGREDIENTS:

  • 8 boneless chicken thighs or a mix of thighs and breast pieces
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 8 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
  • 1/2 bottle of red or white Italian wine
  • flour, for dusting
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
  • a handful of green or black pitted olives
  • 8 white or brown crimini mushrooms, halved or quartered
  • 1 medium or large onion, chopped fairly finely
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
  • 1 800 g can of plum tomatoes, whole
  • 1 handful of chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and put them into a bowl. Add the bay leaves, rosemary sprigs, and the crushed clove of garlic and cover with the wine. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight in the fridge.
  2. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. drain the chicken, reserving the marinade, and pat dry with paper towels. Dust the chicken pieces with flour and shake off any excess, Heat an oven-proof pan, add a splash of olive oil, fry the chicken pieces until browned lightly all over, and put to one side.
  3. Place the pan back on the heat and add the sliced garlic. Fry gently until golden brown, then add the anchovies, olives, mushrooms, carrot, celery, onion, tomatoes (broken up with a wooden spoon, and add the chicken pieces with their reserved marinade. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Using your instant-read thermometer, check that the chicken has reached 160 degre

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