Pollo alla cacciatora
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 1 to 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 4
This Italian-style chicken casserole is slowly cooked with rosemary, thyme, white wine, tomatoes and green olives until tender. It’s served with a crisp, bitter-leaf salad, toasted almonds and a sharp honey and mustard dressing. Serve with roast potatoes, rice, polenta or grilled bread.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 8 chicken thighs (approximately 1.3kg/2lb 14oz), bon in and skin on
- 1 tbsp chicken fat or extra virgin olive oil
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
- 6 rosemary sprigs
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 3 fresh bay leaves
- 1 anchovy fillet
- 150ml/5fl oz white wine, plus a splash for loosening the cooking juices
- 500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
- 100ml/3½fl oz passata
- 200g/7oz green olives, pitted and drained
- 2 tsp capers (optional)
- bread, to serve
For the salad dressing
- ¼ shallot, finely chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp vinegar, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, sherry or cider vinegar
- ½ tbsp honey
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the salad
Method
To make the chicken, take the chicken thighs out of the fridge while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Season with salt.
Heat the chicken fat or olive oil in a large, heavy-based ovenproof pan over a medium-low heat. Add the chicken thighs, skin-side down, and cook for approximately 10 minutes without moving them, until the skin is golden-brown and crisp. Turn and cook for a few more minutes until lightly browned on the other side. Transfer to a plate.
Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3.
Tie the rosemary, thyme and bay leaves together with kitchen string.
Add the celery, onion, carrot, garlic, anchovy and herbs to the same pan. Season with salt and stir to coat in the cooking fat. If there are browned bits stuck to the bottom, add a splash of white wine and scrape them up.
Cook over a medium heat for approximately 30 minutes, stirring as needed, until the vegetables are very soft.
Remove the pan from the heat. Add the chicken stock, white wine, passata, olives and capers, if using.
Return the chicken thighs to the pan, nestling them into the vegetables and liquid. Cover the surface with a circle of baking paper, then seal the pan tightly with two layers of kitchen foil.
Transfer to the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 1 hour, or until the chicken is cooked through. Check that the thickest part of the chicken reaches at least 74C using a meat thermometer, without touching the bone.
Leave the chicken to rest in the cooking liquid for at least 30 minutes. Skim off any excess fat that rises to the surface.
To make the salad dressing, put the shallot, if using, vinegar, honey, lemon juice, mustard and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk until combined.
Slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking continuously until the dressing comes together. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
To make the salad, put the chicory, radicchio, rocket, toasted almonds and apple in a large bowl just before serving. Add a couple of tablespoons of the dressing and toss gently to coat. Taste and add a little more dressing if needed.
Serve the chicken with the salad and crunchy bread.
