Dutch Oven Chicken Cacciatore

This Dutch Oven Chicken Cacciatore layers many different flavours to create a deliciously dish. This delicious meal needs only 10 minutes to prepare and under an hour to cook making it a great choice for a weekend meal.

My Mother has been frequenting the same Italian cultural center and gym since before I was born and her closest friend when I was growing up owned an Italian food importing business. Given this, it’s not suprising that one of my Mom’s specialties was Chicken Cacciatore when I was a child. I have vivid memories of savoury saucy pasta that was the essence of comfort food. As is often the case in my family, my mother had no written recipe and simply threw some ingredients together.

This recipe is based on her recollection, with some changes made to the ingredients and method to suit my taste. This Dutch Oven Chicken Cacciatore is an incredibly hearty stew like pasta dish. In Italian, Cacciatore means hunter, and this hunter style dish is packed with onions, herbs, mushrooms, pepper, carrots and tomato. This hearty dish is the epitome of a one pan meal, and I promise it will become a favourite in your home as it is in mine.

This Dutch Oven Chicken Cacciatore layers many different flavours to create a deliciously complex dish. Crispy shredded chicken is accentuated by lots of garlic and onion, while earthy mushrooms, crisp peppers, and fresh herbs perfectly compliment the bright tomato sauce and salty kalamata olives finish the dish. This delicious meal comes together in just over an hour, making it a great choice for a weekend meal.

TOTAL TIME

• Preparation Time – 10 minutes
• Cooking Time – 58 minutes
• Total Time – 1 hour 8 minutes

INGREDIENTS FOR DUTCH OVEN CHICKEN CACCIATORE

All the ingredients for this Chicken Cacciatore are easy to source from a grocer with a good deli section.

• 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 250 grams Crimini Mushrooms
• 1 Bell Pepper
• 1 Carrot
• 3 1/2 tsps Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper, to taste
• 1 Small Onion
• 6 Cloves Garlic
• 1/2 cup Red Wine
• 1 1/2 cups Canned Chopped Tomatoes
• 10 Chicken Legs
• 1/4 cup Tomato Paste
• 1 sprig Oregano
• 6 sprigs Thyme
• 1/4 cup Kalamata Olives
• 1 box of any short pasta (~500g)

WHAT IS TOMATO PASTE?

Tomato paste is an extremely concentrated tomato product. It is made by crushing and heating the tomatoes, thus reducing them and remove the excess water content. The result is a strongly flavoured paste which adds a lot of flavour to this dish.

WHAT ARE CRIMINI MUSHROOMS?

Crimini mushrooms are also known as Baby Bella Mushrooms because they are miniature Portobello mushrooms. They have a lovely nutty flavour that I enjoy in this dish.

CAN I MAKE THIS IN A DIFFERENT PAN?

If you don’t have a Dutch Oven, a braising pan will work perfectly as well. For this meal you simply need a deep heavy bottomed pan with a lid.

WHAT KIND OF WINE SHOULD I USE?

Normally I prefer to cook with a dry wine. I suggest using a Cabernet Sauvignon or even a Chianti.

CAN I USE OLD WINE?

People often say that they have an open bottle that’s starting to go off, so they’ll just use it for cooking. The logic of this fails me. The wine imparts beautiful flavour to this meal, so why would you use a bottle that’s starting to sour? You wouldn’t! Despite the fact that this recipe only uses half a glass of wine, you should use a nice wine that you enjoy the taste of, because that is the flavour that will be imparted to your dish.

INGREDIENT SUBSTITUTIONS

CAN I USE A DIFFERENT CUT OF CHICKEN IN THIS RECIPE?

Absolutely. I like using legs because the bone in chicken adds extra flavour to the dish and the meat is easy to remove and shred. If you’d prefer you could also use bone in skin on chicken thighs instead.

CAN I USE ANOTHER KIND OF MUSHROOMS?

You can use whatever mushrooms you’d like in this recipe. Portobello mushrooms would also be lovely, but a simple white Button would work as well. I like the nuttiness of Cremini which is why I use them.

CAN I USE DRY HERBS INSTEAD OF FRESH?

Dry herbs don’t have the same potency as fresh ones. Given the importance of Thyme and Oregano in this dish I wouldn’t recommend using dry herbs.

CAN I USE WHITE WINE INSTEAD OF RED?

This depends on your taste, but I would suggest not. The taste of this sauce is impacted by the wine you use in this dish, and I don’t believe that a white wine will be robust enough in this sauce.

CAN I USE PASSATA INSTEAD OF CANNED TOMATOES?

Passata is crushed, strained, tomatoes. Canned tomatoes can be purchased whole, diced, or crushed and are mostly interchangeable in terms of taste, but the resulting texture is quite different. I use canned tomatoes because they result in a thicker sauce which goes perfectly with all the vegetables and chicken in this dish.

EQUIPMENT FOR DUTCH OVEN CHICKEN CACCIATORE

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Below is a list of the main equipment/kitchen tools needed to make this delicious Chicken Cacciatore:

• Dutch Oven

• Wooden Spoon

• Kitchen Knife – Zwilling J.A. Henkel Kitchen Knife a good kitchen knife is a necessary tool for any home cook. Quality and price point varies widely. This is what I use at home. It’s a perfectly decent knife, while still being very affordable.

• Cutting Board

• Large Pot

• Pasta Pot

COOKING DIRECTIONS

This Dutch Oven Chicken Cacciatore is as simple to prepare as it is delicious as long as you follow a few tips:

1. Use only good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
2. Brown your chicken legs before adding the tomatoes.
3. Use only fresh herbs and garlic for maximum flavour.

MAKE AHEAD STORAGE

If you’d like, you can cut your vegetables in advance and store them in the fridge.

This delicious dish can be stored in the fridge for up to four days, and can be frozen in an airtight container if needed.

FINISHED DISH

Enjoy this delicious Dutch Oven Chicken Cacciatore!

OTHER MEAT WITH PASTA DISHES

Creamy Chicken Carbonara

Baked Rigatoni with Pancetta

Flavourful Penne Boscaiola

Creamy Chicken Prosciutto Fettuccine

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

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