“Chicken alla Cacciatora” recipe: a classic by Artusi

Instructions

• 1.

  Singeing and washing the chicken

  • Whole chicken - 1 to 1,2kg (or 4 chicken legs)

  Check the chicken’s skin for remnants of feathers and hair along the ends of wings and legs, the tail, the neck as well as along the folding of the skin and the junction of limbs.
  Chop off the unwanted ends like the tail, the ankles, the head if still present.
  Pluck the bigger feathers with a fish bone tweezer accurately extracting the roots.
  Singe the chicken skin over the flame of your gas hobs or carefully using a blow torch. The skin will tend to shrink when exposed to the heat.
  The blow torch will be much more powerful than the gas fires, so never use it vertically towards the skin, but parallel to the surface. This way the burnings will be minimum.
  Cut the chicken in small piece using a chef knife or a pair of chicken scissors.
  Remove any offals left inside, such as the liver, kidneys and the heart.
  Wash the chicken under running water to remove any dirt from the skin and any inner lump of blood.
  Dry thoroughly each piece with a clean kitchen towel.
  Set aside.
  

• 2.

  Chopping, soaking and drying the onions

  • White onions - 600gr
  • Black pepper - 3gr

  Peel off the onions’ tunics and halve them. with a paring Knife, remove the roots from each half, then slice finely them all with a chef knife (step 2 - pic. A).
  Put the sliced onions into a bowl with cold water and let them soak for half an hour in order to dim their aggressive taste. Then, finely crush the black pepper corns with pestle and mortar (step 2 - pic. B).
  Drain the onions and spread them over a clean kitchen towel, then mop them with a dry end or, if needed, roll the towel up and let them get dry for a couple of minutes (step 2 - pic. C).
  

• 3.

  Slowly sweating the onions

  • The sliced white onions
  • Black pepper - 3gr
  • Salt - 2gr
  • Extra virgin olive oil - 70gr

  Put the non-stick frying pan on a medium heat with the onions and the extra virgin olive oil. Season them with salt and pepper. Stir evenly and let the mixture gain heat form 1 or 2 minutes. Then, lower the heat power and let them sweat slowly for 10 minutes (step 3 - pic. A).
  When soften completely and turned golden, take them out of the pan leaving as much oil as possible in it. Cover the onions to keep them warm and moist and set aside (step 3 - pic. B).
  

• 4.

  Cooking the chicken in the loosely covered pan

  • The onions’ cocking oil
  • The chicken in pieces
  • Salt - 2gr

  Increase the heat to a medium high power, put the chicken’s legs first in with the skins up and let them cook for about 10 minutes. Then, lower the meat to a medium power and cover loosely the pan with a lid. Let them cook for another ten minutes (step 4 - pic. A).
  When the meat under the skin has turned almost all white, sign that the heat has passed through the inner bones, turn the legs on the other side and add the rest of the chicken (step 4 - pic.B).. Place the back and the breasts with the bones on direct contact with the pan first.
  Cover loosely with the lid and let it cook for another 20-25 minutes seasoning each side with salt as soon as the meat has sealed.
  Check the meat constantly and turn it from side to side when the skin has caramelized. If the pan’s bottom dries out, add some tablespoon of hot water from time to time.
  

• 5.

  Adding the onions and the red wine to the chicken

  • The cooked onions
  • The crushed black pepper
  • Rosemary sprigs - to taste (optional, not in the original recipe)
  • Red wine - 300ml

  Add the cooked onions and the rosemary (which is not mentioned in Artusi’s original recipe), then season generously with the crushed black pepper (step 5 - pic. A). Let the onions heat up again for about 5 minutes.
  Then add the red wine and increase the heat to a medium high power (step 5 - pic.B).
  Let the wine sink into the meat turning each piece form time to time and let the liquors reduce: the alcohol must evaporate completely (step 5 - pic. C).
  

• 6.

  Adding the peeled plum tomatoes (or passata)

  • Peeled plum tomatoes - 400gr (or tomato passata)
  • Salt - to taste

  Add the peeled plum tomatoes (or the passata), spread it and set the heat to a high power (step 6 - pic. A).v Let the sauce reduce, turn the pieces from side to side so to flavour and colour the meat evenly. When the sauce starts bubbling, check the seasoning and add some salt if necessary (step 6 - pic. B). Let it boil for no longer than 5 minutes.
  Rest for 5 minutes and serve.
  

• Servings : 4
• Ready in : 95
• Course : Main Course
• Recipe Type : Artusi & I, Gluten Free, Regional
• Ingredient : Black Pepper, Chicken, Chicken Legs, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Peeled Plum Tomatoes, Plum Tomatoes, Poultry, Red wine, Rosemary, Salt, Tomato, Tomato passata, Tomato Puree, Water, Wines - Beers - Spirits