Chicken alla cacciatora (hunter style)
- 4 chicken marylands
- 2 bay leaves
- 100ml white wine
- 50g butter
- 2 tablespoons (40ml) extra virgin olive oil
- ½ large red onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 800g finely chopped canned tomatoes (such as Mutti Polpa)
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
- Crusty bread such as ciabatta, to serve
To prepare the chicken, cut through the thigh and drumstick bone to separate into two pieces.
Place the chicken pieces into a bowl. Add the bay leaves, then cover with the wine. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to marinate for a minimum of 1 hour in the fridge.
Remove the chicken from the fridge. Drain the chicken, reserving the bay leaves and wine marinade.
Heat the olive oil and half of the butter in a large heavy-based stockpot over medium heat. Lightly brown the chicken all over (takes approximately 13-15 minutes). Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate.
To make the soffritto, add the remaining butter into the stockpot. Add the onion and cook for 1 minute, then add the carrot and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes, or until the onion has softened.
Note: Soffritto means ‘slightly-fried’ in Italian, and is a sautéed base flavouring of onions, carrots and celery which are cooked until they release their flavour.
Return the chicken to the stockpot and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the wine and bay leaves the chicken was marinating in. Cook for 5 minutes. The wine will have almost evaporated.
Stir in the finely chopped canned tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and leave to simmer for 30 minutes covered. Remove the lid of the stockpot and cook for a further 15 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and liquid reduced.
Remove the stockpot from the heat. Stir through parsley. Serve immediately with crusty bread to mop up the sauce – buon appetito!
