What’s Cooking? with Jan D’Atri

One-Pot Chicken Cacciatore Ingredients:

- 3 to 4 pounds chicken thighs - 1 cup fl our for dredging - 1/2 cup olive oil - 1 cup Marsala wine - 1/2 cube butter, cut into pieces - 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (organic preferred) - 2 cups white mushrooms, sliced - 1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped fi ne - 3 cloves of garlic, chopped fi ne - 3 green onions (white and green parts), sliced thin - 2 teaspoons fresh parsley - 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano - 1 tablespoon fresh basil - Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste Directions:

Wash chicken and pat dry. Dredge chicken in fl our to coat. In a deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil and fry chicken on both sides until golden brown. Discard most of oil, leaving brown bits in bottom of pan if possible. Add Marsala and butter, and simmer on low heat until wine begins to evaporate, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, mushrooms, onion, garlic, green onions, parsley, oregano and basil. Gently stir ingredients then cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta or polenta.

Jan’s Momma’s Chicken Cacciatore (serves four) Check out my how-to video here: jandatri.com/recipe/mommas-chicken-cacciatore-2

It’s a one-pot Italian wonder! Th at’s what my momma’s comfort food chicken cacciatore recipe should be named.

As a little Italian girl growing up, I just thought it was one of those dishes everyone ate at least once a week—just like we did— with polenta or pasta.

I also assumed that all chicken cacciataore pretty much tasted the same.

But many years later, having tasted chicken cacciatore in numerous restaurants, I’m going to fi nally go on the record and say momma’s is the best. You’re going to get to try it for yourself and see if you agree.

Momma’s cacciatore is simple and inexpensive, uses only one pan, and the fl avors are absolutely divine. It’s about as close to a foolproof dish as you can get with the recipe I’m sharing with you today. Momma’s chicken cacciatore was one of the fi rst recipes we included in our fi rst cookbook, “Momma & Me & You,” and through the years we’ve tweaked it just a bit to make it even better.

Here’s what momma wrote in our cookbook:

“Almost every Italian restaurant has chicken cacciatore on the menu, and there are as many versions of the dish as there are places that serve it. Although it’s a southern Italian What’s Cooking? with Jan D’Atri specialty, it has been adopted as a treasure throughout Italy. When I introduced cacciatore on my restaurant menu back in 1957, our customers fell in love with the very fi rst delicate bite. It became one of our most popular signature dishes for the celebrity crowd and locals alike.”

I fi nd that good quality, fresh chicken enhances the taste—and that chicken thighs seem to be the most fl avorful. Pick up a nice bottle of wine, some good sourdough bread and make this for your momma this Mother’s Day!