What haven’t I done before?

I haven’t made a cacciatore which, according to Wikipedia, means “hunter” in Italian. It’s prepared “hunter-style” with onions, herbs, tomatoes, peppers and wine. It’s super homely and great on a cold, winters night.

Ingredients (serves 2-4 people):

1 x Red onion, diced
1 x Large leek, diced
4 x Cloves of garlic, crushed
2 x Bacon rashers, diced
Fresh rosemary (I used dried but it needs fresh)
2 x Bay leaves
500g x Butternut squash, peeled and diced into cubes
100g x Button mushrooms
2 x Tins of plum tomatoes
250ml x Chianti
4 x Chicken thighs
Black olives
Olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. In a large pan, fry the bacon with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and then add the rosemary.
3. When cooked, add the garlic, onion, leek and bay leaves. Cook for 10 minutes, continually stirring.
4. Then add the mushrooms, squash and chicken. Pour in the wine and let it reduce. Add the plum tomatoes and roughly break them with a wooden spoon. In the tomato tins, swirl with half a tin of water and add to the pin. Mix everything really well together.
5. De-stone the olives (approx. 10 olives) and add to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and then transfer to an ovenproof dish (you could use a casserole dish from the start but I don’t have the right hob to do this).
6. Cook in the over for 1 hour or until the chicken falls off the bone but is thoroughly cooked. Make sure the squash is cooked well by sticking a knife in to make sure it is tender.
7. Serve with gluten free bread or even rice.

Please note that this was based on a Jamie Oliver recipe called “Chicken and squash cacciatore”.