Stanley Tucci's Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
2 red or green bell peppers (seeded and cut into 1-inch-wide strips)
1/2 pound mushrooms (cut into 1/4 inch-thick slices)
3 pounds chicken (cut into serving size pieces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onions (about 2 medium-size onions)
2 garlic cloves (coarsely chopped)
1 cup canned whole plum tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the peppers and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Stir the mushrooms into the pan and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and brown lightly on both sides, about 15 minutes in all. Remove the chicken from the pan to a platter and set aside. Pour the wine into the pan and stir to incorporate any cooking juices. Add the garlic and onions and cook until the onions are slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, crushing them with your hand or the back of a slotted spoon as you add them to the pan.

Return the chicken to the pan, along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Stir the peppers and mushrooms into the chicken. Return to a simmer, cover, and cook to blend in the flavor of these ingredients, about 10 minutes. The cacciatori may be set aside at this point for several hours before reheating and serving with bread to dip into the sauce.
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REVIEWS:

Made this tonight. Just 2 of us, so used 2 big chicken thighs. No white wine in house; used cab and it was fine. Hubby loved it ("The sauce is great") Served with a side of sauteed zuchini and some bread to dip in the sauce. Took a while to make, but very easy. The time was all in the simmering of the various steps. I could see how cooking each ingredient separately and adding back at the end allowed the flavors to shine, and so it didn't end up as a homogeneous mush. A keeper for sure.

What could be used in place of the wine in the recipe? For religious reasons, I do not use alcohol.
REPLY: The wine is used to deglaze the pan and add flavor so you could use any other liquid with flavor. I'd go with a stock of some sort (probably chicken). You could even do just water.