Chicken Cacciatore (Italian Chicken Stew)

This is an Italian stew made with simple ingredients that's hearty and full flavoured! Juicy chicken simmered in a tomato sauce rich with wine and herbs, with capsicum, mushrooms and whole olives. Anchovies is the secret ingredient here that adds a touch of savouriness in the sauce, but nobody can ever pick that it's there. But it's optional - just add extra salt if you prefer to skip it!

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Chicken Cacciatore (Italian Hunter’s Stew)

4 bone in chicken thighs large (1 kg / 2 lb)
4 chicken drumsticks
1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt + 1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
CACCIATORE:
1 onion, halved, finely sliced
2 rosemary sprigs (about 15 cm/6″ long), or 1 tsp dried rosemary
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh else dried
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 anchovy fillets (or 1 tsp anchovy paste), optional
250 g mushrooms, sliced
2 red capsicum, sliced 8 mm thick (medium, not giant)
1/3 cup tomato paste
3/4 cup dry red wine, I like pinot noir (sub more chicken stock)
2 cups chicken stock/broth, low sodium
400g/14 oz canned crushed tomato
1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
16 whole kalamata olives, pitted, drained

1. Sprinkle chicken with the salt & pepper. Heat oil in large pan over high heat (30cm/12” pan with lid). Brown skin of thighs ~6 min, then cook flesh side 1 min. Remove, then brown the drumsticks as best you can, remove.
2. Discard all but 2 tbsp fat. Cook onion, rosemary and bay leaves until onion is soft. Lower heat, clear space in middle, cook garlic and anchovies (mash up as you go) 20 sec. Stir into onion.
3. Turn heat back up to high, add capsicum and mushrooms, cook 5 min until softened. Add tomato paste, cook 2 min (don’t shortcut this, removes sourness). Add wine, simmer until reduced by 75%. Add stock, tomato, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir, place chicken in sauce skin side up, bring to simmer, place lid on. Simmer on medium 20 min, remove lid, add olives, simmer 10 min no lid. Serve over mash, polenta, rice or with crusty bread for mopping!

#chickencacciatore #pollocacciatore #chickenstew #italianstew

[lisettegarvin]

Had me with the anchovies! Going to make this. Thank you for posting.

[thomHD]

I like the depth and colour you got on this one. Cacciatore is often done with rosemary or thyme instead, but without the oregano, really, there's very little that makes it taste particularly or exclusively Italian - it's the same sort of chicken in a wine sauce that even northern Europeans have long since cooked up, except for the addition of olives and possibly serving on polenta. Better to stick with the oregano or basil and give it a good drizzle of olive oil at the end (at least if you're telling people you're cooking something Italian!)

[rneumann]

Yay! My partner loves cacciatore but it’s been so hard to find the jar sauces lately, hopefully he won’t even want to look after trying this 🤞

[mohamadashowmar]

Thank you. So good recipe. What can I replace wine with ? I don’t use wine

[geewhizz]

I love how normal and practical Nagi is with the what appears to be the "chin-chye' way the dish is cooked and the soiled gloves

[lukestubbs.]

I made this for the family as soon as it came out. They loved it especially with the olives.

[gilliandidierserre]

I saw a snippet of you and JB I guess it was the food and wine show in Sydney, both looked like you were have a blast😊..so wonderful, great recipe❤

[tompagano]

Like the idea of anchovy( Italian Unami!). I like a tad more time on dark meat chicken vs breasts. We serve our CC with polenta. My Dad would go by Ada Boni’s Talisman and sometimes use Marsala, dry or 70:30 dry: sweet instead of red wine. Marsala gives the polenta a unique twist. Also consider soaked dried porcini mushrooms ( and filtered soaking water) .

[maraschinomachine]

Thank you. I just realized how some parts of it are similar to fricassee!

[aurorasamontiza]

What ingredients that is for optional here

[chuckz]

I was to do a taste test on a recipe like this - with and without bay leaves - to see if I can taste any discernible difference

[cindychristie]

love it, my friend made it for us many moons ago!
I have tried to replicate her version without success, Made it many times, but a little different from hers!
Hub's not keen on mushrooms although I love them, I make mine without! Serve with pasta, but I do love mashed potatoes!

[marieb]

I've never put anchovies in my cacciatore but I guess I can try it.

[travonjones]

I like the mashed potatoes or rice not pasta

[raymondu]

How big of a sin is it if I leave the olives out? Me and my fam aren’t huge fans 😂

[EricHarvey-mu]

art. We will Your passion for cooking always inspires. Waiting for your recipes on the khal.

[gatovillano]

at 0:49 HOLYS***!!!! cooked chichen with raw chicken.... I will quote Gordon Ramsay: ''F***ing Helll! you wanna kill people?!?''

[mikemike-zq]

i like your vidoes !! i dont need to watch a 45 minute vid on how to boil potatoes ...you get to the point !!, , no yapping about how when you grew up ...blah..blah...blah...