Chicken Cacciatore

75 min · Medium · Serves 1

520 kcal per serving · 36g protein

Italian "hunter's chicken" — bone-in thighs braised in a rich tomato-pepper-mushroom sauce with olives, herbs, and onion. Sunday dinner energy.

Ingredients

• Bone-in chicken thighs (skin-on) × 2
• Yellow onion (sliced) × 1
• Red bell pepper (sliced) × 1
• Green bell pepper (sliced) × 1
• 150 g Cremini mushrooms (halved)
• Garlic cloves (sliced) × 3
• 200 g Crushed tomatoes (canned)
• 60 ml Dry white wine
• Black olives × 8
• 1 tsp Fresh oregano
• 2 tbsp Fresh basil (torn)
• 2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Salt
• 0.5 tsp Cracked black pepper

Method

1. Heat oven

   

   Heat oven to 175°C.

2. Pat chicken thighs dry

   Pat chicken thighs dry, season with salt and pepper.

3. Heat olive oil

   

   Heat olive oil in a deep oven-safe pan over medium-high and sear thighs skin-side down for 5-6 minutes until deeply golden. Flip, sear 2 minutes, then remove to a plate.

4. Soften the vegetables

   

   In the same pan, sauté onion until translucent, 4 minutes. Add bell peppers and mushrooms, cook another 5 minutes until softened with some color.

5. Add sliced garlic

   Add sliced garlic, cook 30 seconds.

6. Pour in the white wine

   Pour in the white wine and scrape up the fond — the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan; they are pure flavour.

7. Add crushed tomatoes

   Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, salt, and pepper.

8. Simmer 2 minutes

   

   Simmer 2 minutes.

9. Braise

   

   Nestle the chicken thighs (skin-side up) back into the sauce with the olives. Transfer to the oven and braise — cook slowly in the sauce — uncovered for 35 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce is rich.

10. Finish

    

    Scatter torn fresh basil over the top before serving.