Almost Italian

ight up there with Spaghetti with Meatballs, Chicken alla Cacciatora is another red-sauce classic that, while quintessentially American-Italian, also has traceable antecedents in the culinary traditions of Italy. In the centuries-old hunter’s treatment of game-birds, hare, and venison, Italians would both mitigate the gaminess and tenderize the flesh of wild quarry by slow-braising their meats in wine,vinegar, or citrus juice.

Copyright © 2009, Skip Lombardi

Mrs. Maria Gentile’s The Italian Cookbook*, (Italian Book Co; 1919), provides a recipe for Chicken alla Cacciatora and recommends, “This is an excellent way to cook tough young chicken.”

Certainly, for most new immigrants and their first-generation American children, who had had little domestic poultry in their own culinary experience, this was also a logical way to cook a sinewy barnyard chicken. Remember, this was prior to World War II, before the concerted efforts of selective breeding for mass-market poultry production had given us the tender supermarket broilers Americans now take for granted.

Since Italian-American restaurateurs would always have abundant tomato sauce on hand, it was no leap of imagination for them to offer chicken braised in tomato sauce and served with the ubiquitous “pasta on the side.” Serving two courses simultaneously—pasta (a primo) and meat (a secondo) on the same plate—was a sure tip-off that a restaurant was catering to a primarily non-Italian clientele.

European Italian cooks favored celery and carrots in their versions of chicken braised with tomatoes, while Italian-Americans introduced green peppers and mushrooms. Indeed, other writers have supposed that it was the inclusion of mushrooms that suggested the woodsy name for the dish (“in the style of the Hunter’s Wife”). However, mushrooms only became common in American red-sauce restaurant cooking after commercial button-mushroom farming had taken hold in and around Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

In any case, you won’t have to hunt for any of the ingredients for this simple preparation; all are readily available. Though the dish can be quickly assembled and left to stew on its own just a couple of hours before supper, it’s even better if you make it a day ahead.

Here is what my grandmother would have done….

Chicken alla Cacciatora

Ingredients:

Olive oil
3 Lb. Chicken cut into 8 pieces (or 8-10 chicken thighs)**
3/4 Cup flour seasoned with salt and freshly-ground black pepper
4 Cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 Medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
2 Green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Lb. large white mushrooms, sliced
1 Cup dry red wine
1 28 oz. Can plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried basil
Salt & freshly-ground black pepper
6 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley

Preparation:

Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off any excess. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add enough olive oil to coat the bottom.

Add the chicken pieces to the hot pan, lower the heat to medium, and slowly brown chicken on all sides. Do not crowd the pan; if necessary, do this step in two batches.

When all the pieces have been browned, remove and reserve on a plate.

Drain and reserve any excess oil and accumulated chicken fat, leaving just a film on the bottom of the sauté pan.

Add the onions and garlic and sauté, stirring often, until the onions have become wilted and translucent. Add the chopped peppers, and sauté until they’ve wilted. Pour the cooked vegetables into a large casserole.

Return the sauté pan to the heat, add enough of the reserved fat and oil to cover the bottom and sauté the mushrooms just until they have begun to give up their liquid.

Add the mushrooms to the vegetables in the casserole and move the casserole over the heat. Raise the heat to high, then add the wine. Allow the wine to boil for a minute or two to evaporate the alcohol. Add the tomatoes and stir to incorporate the wine and vegetables. Stir in the oregano and basil.

Add the chicken pieces, adjusting them as they go in, so each is completely covered with the liquid.

Adjust the heat so the sauce barely simmers. Cover the pot, but leave the lid slightly ajar, so steam will escape. Simmer for approximately 90 minutes. You’ll know the chicken is done when the meat begins to recede from the bones. Taste sauce for salt and pepper.

To Serve:

Add two pieces of chicken to each of four plates, ladle a few tablespoons of sauce over the chicken, and garnish with the parsley. Serve with good crusty bread and a green salad.

If you like, serve pasta as a first course before the chicken or as a side dish. Ladle 1/2 cup of sauce over each small portion of cooked pasta, roughly about 2 cups of sauce to serve over enough pasta for your guests.

Serves four

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