Chicken Cacciatore

Submitted by ROV Chef

"I learned to make Cacciatore from the most obnoxious Italian chef I've ever worked for. This man was vile, but he could cook. This is a rather simple dish that I've changed up a bit and added my own culinary life experiences to. The sauce is to die for. What you get is more like chicken stock with a tomato base than a marinara sauce. This recipe is also intended to be used as a next day leftover guide. Now you can eat it right out of the oven and have a great meal. Or you can let it cool and shred the meat and thicken the sauce a little and mix everything up in a sauce pan and serve it over pasta. Both are good. Or make the recipe as is and only eat half, then have a whole second meal ready and waiting to be re-heated. Oh, I do use store bought marinara when I don't have the time to make it from scratch. I find there is no shame here. Just use a good brand."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• 4 chicken legs
• 1 red bell pepper, frenched
• 1 large zucchini, sliced
• 1 yellow onion, frenched
• 8 garlic cloves, grated
• 0.5 (24 ounce) jar marinara sauce
• 6 ounces beer
• 1⁄4 cup red wine
• 4 tablespoons roast garlic oil
• salt
• pepper

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Sprinkle chicken on all sides with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of garlic oil in a large skillet, add the garlic and stir until it just starts to turn brown.
4. Add the chicken in batches and brown on both sides. Move to a large baking dish, at least 9x11-inch.
5. Add remaining oil to the pan and sauté the the vegetables until soft.
6. Mix the beer, wine and marinara together and pour over the veggies.
7. Pour the veggie sauce mixture over the chicken and cover with foil.
8. Bake for 45 minutes. Verify that the chicken has reached an internal temp of 175°F with a probe thermometer.
9. Optional step -- Pull the chicken from the oven, remove the foil. Slice up some fresh mozzarella and put on top of the chicken and place back int he oven with the broiler turned on. Keep an eye on it the whole time. Pull then the cheese starts to bubble.

Reviews

[MakeDollarHoller]

Another wonderful recipe from ROV Chef! I wouldn't have guessed to put both wine and beer in the sauce, but it was delicious. My family loves marinara sauce, so I used the whole jar. The veggies really added a lot to the Cacciatore. My sons inhaled it.

 

[gypsysoulchef]

I think this recipe is quite amazing. I have to give it 5 stars even though I changed a couple tiny variables. First I did not have any red wine so I actually used a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar with the beer (not exactly a great substitute I know, but it was what I had and I can work with it). Next my husband cannot have onions so I'm always changing recipes for him. I omitted them completely. After following the rest of the recipe almost to the 't' I found it was slightly sweet for my taste and I threw in a can of chopped sardines for a beautiful flavor. Having worked as an apprentice chef myself with a rather obnoxious Swiss chef, I know exactly what it takes to be around them but I also learned some fascinating things in the kitchen. Thank you for this take on the recipe, it's on my favorite list for sure!