Chicken Cacciatore

Hunter's style. This comes from Eleanora Scarpetta who was seen on the Martha Stewart show many, many years ago. My husband absolutely loves it! The original recipe calls for white wine and a hot pepper, which I omitted, and gaeta olives, for which I substituted green olives due to my husbands tastes, as well as oyster mushrooms, for which I used regular white mushrooms due to convenience and expense. It also called for fresh basil which I did not have so I just used dried. I am sure the ingredients I omitted would make for a more authentic dish. Any combination of chicken may be used, I prefer boneless because I am spoiled. :) This could also be done in a crock pot after the browning steps.

• Ready In: 1 hr 50 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 3  garlic cloves, pressed
• 1  large onion, diced
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 3⁄4 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Greek
• 3⁄4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 4 -6  chicken thighs
• 4  chicken breast halves
• 1⁄2 cup red wine vinegar
• 6  cups canned whole tomatoes, drained and seeded and halved
• 1  teaspoon dried basil
• 1⁄2 cup green olives
• 6  small sweet peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into bite sized pieces
• 4  ounces mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
• 1  lb penne pasta, cooked

Directions

1. Heat oil, garlic, onion, rosemary, parsley, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp salt in large shallow saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent, but not browned.
2. Add chicken and cook, turning occasionally until well browned on both sides, about 30 minutes.
3. Add vinegar, and cook until reduced by half, about 10-12 minutes.
4. In the meantime, place 1/3 of the tomatoes at a time in a blender or food processor and puree to crush, about 1 second each time.
5. Add tomatoes, basil, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp oregano to chicken. Cook to reduce and thicken tomatoes, abt 20 minutes.
6. Add olives, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook until the peppers have softened and the chicken is very tender, about 15 minutes.
7. Serve over cooked pasta.