From My Italian Kitchen: Pollo alla Cacciatore

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The arrival of winter in Tuscany brings colder temperatures, rain, and a chill that goes right through you.  The change in weather signals the beginning of the season for heartier meals – roasted meats, soups brimming with winter vegetables and beans, peppery stews, and risottos with pumpkin and sausage. 

 One of my favorite winter weather dishes is cacciatore, the hunter’s stew. This is something my mother often made. She may have been Irish, but she had a good Italian neighbor who taught her this dish. 

In Tuscany, Cacciatore is most often made with rabbit or chicken.  Many variations of the recipe exist, each with its own little flavor twist.  Some include olives or capers, some start with a base of carrots and celery.  Some call for mushrooms, plentiful in Italy during fall and winter. My mother always added green peppers (definitely an American addition). The only certain ingredients seem to be lots of onions, a little garlic, and tomatoes (though I’ve even seen a version from southern Italy with no tomatoes at all).  

Over the years I’ve made some changes to my mother’s recipe. I now make a cacciatore more like what I find in Tuscany, which includes adding some olives and mushrooms (and definitely no green peppers). I prefer the flavor and tenderness of dark meat, so generally use leg / thigh quarters.  My favorite butcher in Lucca will cut the chicken pieces into “chunks” with the bone and skin still in place. The cut pieces are easier to brown than whole thighs and are a nice presentation in the finished dish.

One key to a good cacciatore is using the right kind of tomato to make the sauce. An Italian passata works best. Passata is an uncooked puree of tomato with nothing else added. It has just a bit of natural sweetness and makes a better sauce than a polpa which has finely chopped tomatoes with juice.

A bit of heat can be added with just a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Browning the chicken in oil and sauteing the onions and mushrooms before adding the tomatoes and spices deepens the flavors.

Pollo alla Cacciatore is a simple rustic dish but it works great as a meal for guests.  Better yet, it tastes even better when made a day ahead of time. Leftovers freeze well, an added bonus!

The cacciatore goes perfectly on top of creamy polenta. 

 The recipe:

4 meaty leg / thigh quarters; skin on.

2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon flour

Salt and Pepper

1 large onion, sliced thin

10 ounces of sliced white mushrooms

3 cloves garlic, minced

24 ounce jar of tomato passata

¾ cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

½ cup black olives

Pinch of red chili flakes (optional)

Sea Salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste

Sprinkle the chicken pieces lightly with salt, pepper, and the flour.  In a heavy pan, working in batches, lightly brown the chicken on both sides in the olive oil.  Remove and set aside.

Add the sliced onion to the pan, sauté until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan as the onions cook. Add the mushrooms and sauté another 5 minutes.  Add the minced garlic for a brief 2 minutes.

Add in the white wine and again scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine bubble for a couple of minutes and then add the tomato passata, bay leaf, rosemary, pinch of flaked red chili pepper, olives, and the chicken with any juices that accumulated while it rested.

 Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, and simmer over low partially covered for 90 minutes, stirring periodically. When the chicken is tender remove it from the pan, if using whole thighs I like to take the meat off the bone and return it to the sauce. This isn’t essential but makes the dish much easier to serve and eat. If using smaller pieces of chicken (like the ones my butcher chops for me), I just leave them intact.

At this point the Cacciatore can be served or refrigerated overnight. It actually tastes better after an overnight rest. Just reheat and serve in bowls over freshly made polenta. Add a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan at the table.

Leftovers are great over rice or penne pasta. Enjoy !

With some crusty bread, a salad, and some fancy drinks, Pollo Alla Cacciatore makes a meal festive enough for a holiday dinner.

The Flavors of an Italian Autumn

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Fall color along Lucca’s historic wall.

 Is there a better time to be in Italy than Autumn?  The crowds have dispersed, the temperatures are perfect, the leaves are changing, and – even better – it is harvest season.   When I think of this time of year in Italy, my thoughts often involve the unique colors, scents, and flavors of the local foods. For anyone interested in food (and who isn’t?), the flavors of an Italian fall are a revelation.

 I think first of the scent of chestnuts roasting outdoors over an open flame.  Smells just like fall to me.  Chestnuts at this time of year are also ground and used in cooking.  There is castagnaccio, a dense cake made with farina di castagna (chestnut flour), olive oil, raisins and pinenuts.  Necci (my personal favorite fall chestnut food), are thick chestnut flour crepes, cooked on a hot iron paddle, and wrapped around a fresh ricotta filling. Add a drizzle of honey to the ricotta and you have a barely sweet, nutty flavored snack. Yum.

 Next I think of white truffles with their earthy aroma.  They may be shaved over pasta, eggs, or risotto.  Last fall I had some truffle shaved over a delicate pecorino flan.  The presentation was part of the experience. First the found-just-that-day white truffle was brought to the table under a glass dome. Then it was slowly shaved over the flan. The scent and the delicate taste of white truffle atop that silky flan was wonderful.

 The deep green color of freshly pressed olive oil, and that delicious aroma, is another fall treat.  To stand in a local frantoio (the mill where olives are pressed) as the new oil flows out of the press is the very definition of fall in Italy. And nothing beats the flavor of fresh-pressed local extra virgin olive oil.

For me, fall truly starts with my first taste of zucca.  Zucca is an Italian word that can refer to any one of the Cucurbita genus of plants – ones that grow on vines. 

This includes gourds, cucumbers, and squash.  Most often the word zucca is used to mean pumpkin.  And it is the foods made with pumpkin that mark the beginning of fall for me.

 Several pumpkin based dishes can be found in Tuscany.   First, there are tortelli di zucca, a pumpkin filled pasta. They are often served in a simple brown butter and sage sauce, sometimes with a few nuts on top. 

It may be a simple preparation, but there is nothing simple about the flavor.  Just a touch of sweetness in the pumpkin, wrapped inside a homemade pasta envelope, with the nutty flavor of the browned butter and a hint of sage.   It is a dish worth the wait for fall to come around again.

 

Then there is risotto zucca e salsiccia, risotto with pumpkin and sausage.  This is hands-down my favorite fall pumpkin dish. 

I especially love the one served at Trattoria Gigi, my go-to local trattoria here in Lucca.  The pumpkin flavor is subtle, never overwhelming, with bits of flavorful sausage in a creamy, perfectly cooked risotto. 

The ultimate fall comfort food!



A couple of weeks ago I was introduced to another pumpkin dish, vellutata di zucca, at Trattoria Cibrèo in Florence.  The velvety soup was topped with an artistic drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of crushed amaretti. 

Not only was the soup visually pleasing, but the taste was wonderful and the slightly sweet and crunchy bits of amaretti were an unexpected, but perfect, flavor enhancement.

 Just writing this post makes me hungry.  I might have to try my hand at making that zuppa!