Well Pancake Day is over, Easter isn’t far off but next is Mother’s Day and its time to drop very unsubtle hints to my Children !!!

Olly I hope is buying me the above Catherine Fulvio book and Rosie I hope is buying me Two Greedy Italians, two wonderful Italian Cookery books to add to my rather vast and growing collection.

Below is a Catherine Fulvio recipe, a gorgeous chicken cacciatore. Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian. In cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style” with tomatoes, onions, herbs, often bell pepper, and sometimes wine. I love this recipe and I love Catherines show and I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Buon appetito

Note : Not the greatest picture, but I had to take it indoors under the kitchen lights, please trust me, it tastes so good and looks better in real life. The flavour of the herbs come through and it is a really clean and fresh tasting meal.

 

1 large chicken, segmented, I must admit I cheated, I brought 2 chicken breasts for Hubby and 4 legs for the rest of us, but I think next time I would use 6 breasts as it is just easier
6 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper
6 shallots, halved or quartered, depending on size
2 cloves garlic, sliced crossways
2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes
500ml chicken stock
125ml white wine
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp caster sugar, to taste
6-8 medium basil leaves, torn
2 tbsp thyme,chopped
30 black olives, whole, as usual, I left the Olive’s out
Olive oil, extra virgin
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas 4.

Slice the onion and garlic.

Toss the chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off excess flour.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken pieces in batches over a medium heat (take care not to overload the frying pan).

Remove the chicken from the pan and place into a casserole dish.

Sauté the onions in the frying pan, over a low heat until soft. Add the garlic and cook gently. Add to the chicken.

Deglaze the frying pan with the white wine and add to the chicken.

Then add the tomatoes, stock, sugar, thyme and tomato purée. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat. Now pour over the chicken and other ingredients that are in your casserole dish.

Cover and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes until chicken is cooked, then add the basil and olives.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty bread or rosemary roast potatoes. I served this with rice and freshly made focaccia, but if I had more time I would serve it with the roast potatoes and green beans.