"Hunter's chicken" — what you'd cook over an open fire after a day in the woods. Tomatoes, olives, rosemary, white wine. Simple, peasant, deeply satisfying.
Pollo alla Cacciatora
“Hunter’s chicken” — what you’d cook over an open fire after a day in the woods. Tomatoes, olives, rosemary, white wine. Simple, peasant, deeply satisfying.
Ingredients
Method
- Pat chicken pieces dry. Season with salt and pepper. Dust lightly in flour.
- Heat olive oil in a wide deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high. Brown the chicken on all sides — about 8 minutes total. Don’t crowd. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pan, lower heat to medium. Add onion, garlic, and rosemary. Cook 5 minutes until soft.
- Pour in the white wine; reduce 3 minutes, scraping up the bottom of the pan.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Return the chicken to the pan, nestling pieces in the sauce.
- Cover and simmer over medium-low heat 30 minutes. Add the olives in the last 10 minutes.
- Uncover the last 5 minutes if the sauce needs to thicken. Taste; adjust salt.
- Fish out rosemary stems. Serve hot, with polenta, mashed potatoes, or just bread.
Notes
Some Tuscan versions skip the tomato entirely (cacciatora “in bianco”). The Roman version uses red wine instead of white. Both are valid — every region has its hunters.