Chicken cacciatore

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Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian. Visions of elk, wild boar and deer. Actually, it can be made with almost any meat or vegetable-based “meat.” For your heart, chicken or kangaroo are best since they are both relatively light in cholesterol and the latter is actually better for you—much better than red meat. Ihave made this with chicken drumsticks—not very traditional but, what the heck.

I first had this as a sub-teen on a day trip with my parents from Nice where we lived to a small town by the sea just inside Italy. My mother loved this dish and because of that I have avoided it since. She loved things that were pretty bad for you—which was reflected in her being—how shall I say it? —somewhat plump. Honestly a bit more than somewhat.

But at the end of last week, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and cook up an Italian storm. (Oh! For goodness’ sake, I hear Alicia cry, what a terrible mix of metaphors! Before we were married, she was the editor of New Woman magazine and her edits ring in my head).

I settled on cacciatore. I altered a traditional recipe to make it a bit more nutritious and less calorific. It worked. Mother was right after all, it’s delicious. Alicia was so pleased she pleaded with me to make it again—which, of course, I did.

To answer a question from a Tribe member: No, I don’t use any extra salt in my cooking. I do, however use reduced salt stock and soy sauce which both, obviously, have some salt in them. We should all be avoiding sodium when possible.

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 skinless chicken drumsticks
• pepper, to season the chicken
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 small yellow bell pepper (capsicum), diced
• 1 small red bell pepper (capsicum), diced
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 300g (10 oz) mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives
• 3 teaspoons thyme
• 2 tablespoons each freshly chopped parsley and basil plus more parsley to garnish
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 glass red wine
• 820 gms (28 oz) tomatoes cut into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons passata paste  
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

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‍Directions:

1. Season chicken with pepper.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy skillet. Sear chicken on two sides until golden, about 3-4 minutes each side. Remove from skillet and set aside.
3. Add remaining oil to the pan. Sauté the onion until transparent, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5. Add the peppers, carrot, mushrooms and herbs; cook for 5 minutes until vegetables soften.
6. Pour in the wine, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Cook until wine is somewhat reduced, +/- 2 minutes.
7. Add chopped tomatoes, passata paste, and chill flakes. Season with pepper to your tastes.
8. Return drumsticks to the skillet. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly; cover with lid, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer (while stirring occasionally) for 40 minutes or until the meat is nearly falling off the bone.
9. Add in the olives, allow to simmer for a further 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley.

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‍Serves: 4

‍Energy: 1116 kJs (279 calories) per serve