Hello again!
I'm back with yet another super-easy savoury dish. But don't worry, the lack of sugar on this blog will be seen to soon- we've got a guest-post from my brother coming next weekend (exciting stuff), and then it's going to be back to our line-up of cakes, cakes, cakes. And more cakes. Maybe a tart or two. Let's see how things go.
Today I'm blogging a ridiculously easy but delicious chicken cacciatore. There are a lot of recipes for chicken cacciatore going around, though from my research they all seem to include tomatoes and basil. 'Cacciatore' means 'hunter' in Italian, and as such, this is a rather simple, rustic dish. And I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'proper' recipe for what is traditionally a thrown-together braised dish.
So, this is my version of a chicken cacciatore.
Ingredients:
1 finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
A good handful of black olives
2 x 400g tins of good-quality chopped or cherry tomatoes
100g of mascarpone
6 skin-on chicken breasts or thighs (depending on your preference)
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
First, preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius fan (or 190 degrees Celsius non-fan).
Fry off your onions and garlic in olive oil until softened and translucent. Add in your tomatoes and season with a touch of salt, a little sugar, and a quick glug of balsamic vinegar. I always add a bit of sugar and salt when using tinned tomatoes as I find that they can be a bit too acidic, so you need the sugar and salt to balance that out a bit more.
Let your tomato sauce simmer for about 15 or 20 minutes, until it has thickened and reduced a little. Take the pan off the heat and stir in your mascarpone. Now, grab your basil.
This is our basil plant. ...It didn't exactly look like this after I was done with it. Ooops.
Poor guy never saw it coming...
Roughly tear up your basil leaves and stir them into the mixture, along with your olives. For your olives, pit them if necessary then roughly chop them up into chunks before tossing them into your sauce. Bear in mind that since the olives are quite salty, be careful when you're seasoning your sauce as it'll be saltier once you add in your olives.
Now fry your chicken on both sides until a light golden colour. Arrange your chicken in a baking dish and pour the sauce over them.
Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. In the photos, I've used chicken quarters, which took about 45 minutes in my oven. When I've used smaller pieces of chicken, like skin-on breast pieces or keel, it's taken about 25-30 minutes, so just use your judgement. If you're unsure, your chicken is cooked when the juices run clear.
Serve over a helping of pasta, or mashed potatoes, or roast potatoes...whichever way you want them. Since there's lots of sauce, I do like having this with pasta or mash- yummy!
There, wasn't that easy? Enjoy!
I'm back with yet another super-easy savoury dish. But don't worry, the lack of sugar on this blog will be seen to soon- we've got a guest-post from my brother coming next weekend (exciting stuff), and then it's going to be back to our line-up of cakes, cakes, cakes. And more cakes. Maybe a tart or two. Let's see how things go.
Today I'm blogging a ridiculously easy but delicious chicken cacciatore. There are a lot of recipes for chicken cacciatore going around, though from my research they all seem to include tomatoes and basil. 'Cacciatore' means 'hunter' in Italian, and as such, this is a rather simple, rustic dish. And I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'proper' recipe for what is traditionally a thrown-together braised dish.
So, this is my version of a chicken cacciatore.
Ingredients:
1 finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
A good handful of black olives
2 x 400g tins of good-quality chopped or cherry tomatoes
100g of mascarpone
6 skin-on chicken breasts or thighs (depending on your preference)
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
First, preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius fan (or 190 degrees Celsius non-fan).
Fry off your onions and garlic in olive oil until softened and translucent. Add in your tomatoes and season with a touch of salt, a little sugar, and a quick glug of balsamic vinegar. I always add a bit of sugar and salt when using tinned tomatoes as I find that they can be a bit too acidic, so you need the sugar and salt to balance that out a bit more.
Let your tomato sauce simmer for about 15 or 20 minutes, until it has thickened and reduced a little. Take the pan off the heat and stir in your mascarpone. Now, grab your basil.
This is our basil plant. ...It didn't exactly look like this after I was done with it. Ooops.
Roughly tear up your basil leaves and stir them into the mixture, along with your olives. For your olives, pit them if necessary then roughly chop them up into chunks before tossing them into your sauce. Bear in mind that since the olives are quite salty, be careful when you're seasoning your sauce as it'll be saltier once you add in your olives.
Now fry your chicken on both sides until a light golden colour. Arrange your chicken in a baking dish and pour the sauce over them.
Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. In the photos, I've used chicken quarters, which took about 45 minutes in my oven. When I've used smaller pieces of chicken, like skin-on breast pieces or keel, it's taken about 25-30 minutes, so just use your judgement. If you're unsure, your chicken is cooked when the juices run clear.
Serve over a helping of pasta, or mashed potatoes, or roast potatoes...whichever way you want them. Since there's lots of sauce, I do like having this with pasta or mash- yummy!
There, wasn't that easy? Enjoy!
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