Pollo Alla Cacciatora

By Accipiter

Summary

Hi goons.

It's been some time since I posted a thread in these here parts, mostly because I have nothing but utter contempt for all of you. Actually no, I'm kidding. At least partly. But yeah, a lot of my time recently has been taken up by the whole house-buying thing.

And of course, with a new house comes a new kitchen!

So what does this mean? It means that for the first time, I am now older than my appliances. I figure it's time to break in their use as well as 2007, so with that, enjoy what people here in the states like to call "Chicken Cacciatore" or "hunter-style chicken."

System Requirements

• 1 chicken. (You can get it pre-cut-up like I did, or if you're a manly man you can find a whole chicken and disassemble it yourself.)
• Pasta of choice; I use Penne (not pictured)
• 1/2 Medium White Onion
• 1/2 cup Dry White Wine (I use Chardonnay)
• 1 large can Whole Tomatoes
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Rosemary

Preparation

First, take our (formerly) feathered friend and rinse off each of the parts, then pat them dry and set them on a plate.

Take your white onion, and thinly chop half of it. I like to make them into slivers, like so.

Now heat about three tablespoons of oil in a large pan. Here I am using my fancy new Calphalon pan.

Start putting your chicken into the oil piece by piece, skin side down. We're going to lightly brown it.

You probably won't be able to brown the entire chicken at once, but that's okay. You can do it in batches; just set the already browned chicken aside.

When the last of your chicken is just about browned, add your onions and your rosemary to the pan and sauté until the onions are tender.

Once your onions are where they need to be, go ahead and put the rest of the chicken back in the pan and pour in the white wine, followed by some salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Allow the wine to cook off, and flip the bird pieces a few times, making sure they get at least one full rotation. Then you can add your tomatoes.

Make sure they're evenly distributed amongst the chicken pieces, then pop a lid on your pan and lower the heat to simmer your concoction for 45 to 60 minutes.

Shortly before time's up on your chicken, you should start boiling your pasta.

Initiate your pasta cooking routine, and by the time it's ready your chicken should be too. Take the lid off and enjoy the smell.

Remove your chicken from the sauce and set it aside, then crank up the heat on the sauce to reduce it a bit more, stirring occasionally.

Dump some pasta on your plate and ladle some sauce over top, remove some pieces of chicken from the bones and drop it on top, then cover with some more sauce. Serve with the wine you used in the cooking and a nice side salad.

Buon appetito!