Recipe: Chicken Cacciatora

Chicken Cacciatora
From: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
4-6 servings

a 3-4 pound chicken cut into 6-8 pieces
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Flour on a plate
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup onion sliced very thin
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 sweet yellow or red bell pepper in julienne strips
1 carrot, sliced thin
1/2 stalk celery sliced thin
1 garlic clove, chopped very fine
2/3 cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped coarse with juice

Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels. In a large saute pan, Heat oil to medium high. Coat chicken in flour, shake off and slip into pan, skin side down. Brown well on both sides. Transfer to warm plate and season with salt and pepper.

In same pan, cook onions until deep gold. Add wine. Let simmer briskly while scraping loose crispy residues on side and bottom of pan. Return all chicken pieces to pan, except the breasts, which cook faster and will go in later. Add remaining vegetables, including tomatoes and juice.

Adjust heat to slow simmer and cover tightly. After 40 minutes, add the breasts and continue cooking for at least 10 more minutes until chicken highs feel tender. Turn and baste pieces occasionally while cooking.

When chicken is done, transfer to a warm serving plate. If pan juices are thin, reduce them to an appealing thickness. Pour over chicken and serve at once.

May be cooked ahead of time and warmed slowly.