I’m a lover of braised meats, whether or not or not it’s pot roast or quick ribs or beef brisket… or the hen dish I’m sharing with you as we speak. Simply give me some meat, a pot with a lid, some mixture of liquid components, and I’ll be consuming out of your hand… so long as your hand is holding braised meat.
Which may have been the weirdest introductory sentence of any recipe I’ve ever posted.
It is a pleasant meal, and a consolation meals basic. Rooster Cacciatore usually includes browning hen items in a pot over excessive warmth, then sautéing a mixture of greens—onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes—in the identical pot. Spices are added, adopted by a bit of wine, and the hen and veggies are allowed to cook dinner collectively within the oven lengthy sufficient for magic to occur…
And magic does occur.
I take advantage of hen thighs for this recipe as a result of I occur to like hen thighs. However you should use an entire minimize up hen or just a mixture of your favourite items. Simply you’ll want to depart the pores and skin on otherwise you’ll remorse it the remainder of your life.
Not that I’m dramatic or something.
Let’s make Rooster Cacciatore!
Right here’s what you want: salt, pepper, butter, olive oil, flour, hen, onion, bell peppers, garlic, mushrooms, canned tomatoes, wine, floor thyme, turmeric, Parmesan cheese, and parsley.
And noodles. Gotta have the noodles.
Start by heating butter and olive oil in a pan over medium-high warmth.
The begin to any good meal!
Generously salt and pepper either side of the hen.
Don’t even take into consideration eradicating that delicious pores and skin.
Dredge either side of the hen in flour. Only a gentle coating is ok.
Place the hen (4 items at a time) face down within the scorching butter/oil combination…
Brown them on either side, a few minute on either side.
Take away them to a plate and repeat with the remaining hen.
Halve an onion from root to tip, then minimize it into barely thick slices.
Keep in mind that the veggies will cook dinner within the oven for an hour or so, so that you need them to carry collectively.
Lop off the highest and backside of the pepper, pull out the innards, and minimize it in half.
I like saying ‘innards.’ I can’t promise it will likely be the final time as we speak.
Slice the pink pepper into thick slices.
Repeat with inexperienced bell peppers.
You should utilize yellow and orange, too—no matter you’ve gotten readily available!
Subsequent, slice up some ‘shrooms. Once more, not too skinny.
And eventually, lots ‘o garlic!
Do you know I’ve a dysfunction that causes me to make use of at the least 50% extra garlic than might be advisable or mandatory?
It’s the insurgent in me, man.
After you take away the hen from the pot, pour off half the oil/butter combination to maintain the dish from being too greasy. Then throw the onions and peppers into the pan.
Stir them round and cook dinner them for a minute over excessive warmth…
Then throw within the ‘shrooms.
Stir them round and cook dinner for a minute.
It’s not necessary that the greens get performed at this stage, in fact, since we’ll be cooking them within the oven shortly.
Subsequent comes floor thyme…
And one other dysfunction of mine…
TURMERIC.
I apologize for the all caps, nevertheless it was the one manner I may convey the expression on my face:
Eyes huge
Proper eyebrow raised
Tongue out
Mouth drooling
I like turmeric.
Have I discussed I’m keen on turmeric?
However that’s nothing in comparison with my love for turmeric.
Now, into the recent skillet goes 3/4 cup of wine…and okay, 1 cup.
Let it cook dinner and boil/bubble for about 30 seconds.
Then add a big can of tomatoes, juice and all. I used complete as a result of it’s what I had within the pantry, however when you favor to not have the big chunks of tomatoes, go forward and used the diced selection.
If you happen to do use complete, squeeze or in any other case break up the tomatoes a bit.
Stir within the tomatoes and cook dinner for one more minute, then go forward and add the hen—pores and skin facet up—to the pot.
Don’t completely submerge the hen; maintain the pores and skin above the floor so it’ll retain its golden brown coloration and crispy pores and skin.
Cowl the pot now and place it right into a 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, attain into the oven with a mitt and take away the lid. Crank up the the temp to 375, then cook dinner it for one more 15 or 20 minutes. This’ll enable the highest of the hen—and the veggies, for that matter—to get a bit of extra sizzly and colourful.
And…right here it’s.
Rooster Cacciatore!
However we’re not fairly able to serve but.
First, take away the hen and set it on a clear (and ideally heat) plate.
Subsequent, take away as many greens as you may with a big slotted spoon. Place ’em in a bowl and maintain ’em heat.
After that, set the pot again on the range and convey the remaining liquid to a boil. This’ll thicken it up a bit of and intensify the flavour.
Word that this step isn’t obligatory. If you happen to’d moderately simply pull the pot out of the oven and dig proper in, it’ll nonetheless be scrumptious.
However I like this step. This step is my good friend.
(Simply you’ll want to style it and add a bit of salt and pepper if it wants it.)
I went with egg noodles this time as a result of I like the entire consolation meals angle of Rooster Cacciatore. However be at liberty to make use of linguine, spaghetti, or any pasta that makes your skirt fly up. Drain it and heap it on to a platter.
Spoon the greens excessive…
Then prepare the hen items.
Subsequent, spoon the decreased and thickened sauce over the entire thing. No want so as to add all of it—simply eyeball it and add the quantity you suppose it wants. You’ll need to add sufficient that it moistens the pasta beneath, however not a lot that it’s positively swimming in liquid.
Yum. How good does this look?
Subsequent, sprinkle on a bit of chopped parsley for some herbaceous freshness.
Then—and that is the good half—use an awesome massive spoon to serve up particular person parts. You need to be capable to get one serving to in a single giant spoonful: hen, noodles, veggies, and all!
A bit sprinkling of grated Parmesan gained’t damage.
Neither will a bit of additional sauce.
Repeat after me:
If some is sweet, extra is healthier…if some is sweet, extra is healthier…if some is sweet, extra is healthier…
Take pleasure in this, my associates!
(And go together with the hen thighs. You’ll be so glad you probably did.)
Right here’s the useful printable:
