This is a dish I’ve been trying to perfect for a long time. Whenever I order it in a good Italian restaurant, it always tastes very hearty, rustic, and rich, while mine tastes sort of thin.
I use fresh garlic, onions, peppers, and mushrooms (or at least as fresh as you can find in the grocery store). I do use dried oregano and basil, packaged in a generic “Italian Seasoning” spice jar. The tomato sauce I make from canned tomatoes, either crushed or diced.
I’ve tried simmering the tomatoes in a pot for a long time to bring out their flavor and also dumping them into the pan with the chicken and vegetables and braise for about 10 minutes. I think I like the former method better, but it is still lacking. I’ve read that using tomato paste along with crushed/diced tomatoes can really supercharge the sauce. Could this be a missing factor?
Also, I’ve noticed that good chicken cacciatore typically comes with some sausage as well. Perhaps when this is sauteed along with the chicken, it contributes significantly to the flavor. Could this be a missing factor?
4 to 6 chicken legs with thigh attached
1 lg can of tomatoes,
2 tblsp tomato paste
1-2 lg onions chopped
6 cloves of garlic chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 green pepper chopped
12 large mushrooms quartered
1 tblspoon sugar
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon red Balsamic vinegar
pinch each of rosemary, oregano, anise/fennel seed, red chilies (ground together in a mortar & pestle or coffee grinder)
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons capers
fresh basil
fresh parsley
First I brown the chicken, and then remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Brown the onions in the same pan the chicken cooked in, and then add the garlic, mushrooms, peppers, and saute until slightly softened. I add my dry spices, then I add 1/4 cup red wine, and 1 tblsp Balsamic vinegar and reduce until the alcohol is gone from the wine.
Add to the pan 1 large can of plum tomatoes, drained & then crush them by hand (reserve the liquid in case you need it later), and two tablespoons of tomato paste and one tablespoon of sugar, capers and then salt & pepper to taste. Use some of the reserved juice from the canned tomatoes if the sauce is too thick.
Add the chicken back into the pan, cover, turn down to low and let cook for 45 minutes.
And adding some nice hot italian sausage (whole) is great too! Saute in the pan before the chicken - it adds flavor to the chicken, and put it back in at the same time as the chicken. If you want to slice the sausage, take it out after about 15 minutes in the sauce and slice then.
And I forgot! The fresh basil & parsley goes on when you serve it.
If I’m making any sort of tomato sauce based dish I add wine to the recipe whether it calls for it or not. A good dry wine works so well with tomatoes. I’d also try to use fresh basil instead of dry and see if that helps, fresh basil is just amazing.
Thanks for the recipe! I notice that yours includes red wine. I imagine that contributes to a lot of the flavor, right? I should try using some red wine. Your total cooking time is much longer than mine, too. I’m going to try your recipe tonight.
I would say giving the chicken a good browning is the key to flavor development. Also, using legs and thighs are better (flavorwise) than breast alone (in case that’s what you’re doing). Also, skin-on for the chicken.
If your sauce seems a little thin (consistency wise), tomato paste is the perfect way to thicken it and give it a bit of a tomato boost.
Otherwise, the ingredients you use seems fine to me. And don’t forget to adjust for salt. Undersalting your food is another main culprit for weak flavor.
edit: Oh, one more thing, a lot of people will salt, pepper, and lightly dredge the chicken in flour before browning. This helps the brown and it thickens the sauce a little. I would recommend trying that, too.
I LOVE chicken cacciatore, but I skip on breading the chicken n such like my mom used to do. I like to use whatever leftover veggies and frozen chicken I have to make this. Freezes well, and it tastes really good if you happen to have leftover grilled veggies. This works great in the slowcooker too, just prep everything on the stove and put it in the slow cooker to finish cooking.
With regards to tomatoes and red wine, I’ve heard that it ‘heightens’ their flavor.
Check the cans of tomatoes you use, some come heavily salted, others unsalted. I prefer to get mine unsalted, then salt to our liking. Just check, because I’ve oversalted stuff like this unknowingly
I can’t really say how much this feeds, other than it’s good for about 8-10 servings, and I generally serve it over rice. You can put as much or as little of the veggies in as you like. I hope this is everything, I just end up throwing stuff in the pot!
-olive oil
-chicken
-1 bag of frozen pepper and onion mix (or fresh if you like 1-2 peppers, 1 large onion)
-garlic
-1 pkg sliced mushrooms
-1 large can crushed tomato
-1 smaller size diced tomato
-Italian herbs (oregano, basil, parsley etc)
-crushed red pepper
-1/2c red wine
-1/2c parmesan cheese (thickens and makes it tasty)
*sugar - Optional if you want a sweeter sauce, but if you want a more tomatoey taste, leave it out. Garlic powder can also sweeten the sauce too.
Other options: spinach, shredded carrot, sausage, squash
Put about 1Tbs of olive oil in the pot, along with some garlic. Feel free to saute the onion if using fresh.
Saute chicken - feel free to add some of the italian herbs here. It almost coats the chicken.
Remove chicken from pot
4*. If you’re using frozen veggies or veggies with a lot of water - like spinach (which I love to add), saute the veggies until the liquid is nearly gone from the pot. This will water down the sauce.
Add everything into the pot and cook over medium low heat for 3-4 hrs, or if you want it done more quickly just bump the heat up until everything looks cooked to your liking.
The longer cooking time is because I use the whole chicken attached thigh with legs & leave them whole with skin on - so they take longer than a boneless chicken breast.
I think the key to the richness is to really brown the chicken, sausage, and onions in olive oil (not just slightly golden, but nice and brown) - and wine, of course makes any sauce yummier. The sugar is optional, but I like sweeter tomato sauces.
Fennel seed & red chili flakes are the main flavoring in hot italian sausages, so I use them instead of basil during cooking to lend that spicy licorice flavor basil usually imparts to a dish. I save my fresh basil as a garnish, because basil in the cooking process loses quite a bit of its flavor, and dried basil has very little flavor.
