Big Joe’s Big Chicken Cacciatore

By jtoro_318

Ingredients

• 8 chicken drum sticks
• 8 chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of flour for dredging
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 stalks of coarsely chopped celery
• 1 green or red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup of carrots diced
• 10-12 button mushrooms (white), cut into 1/4 pieces
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of drained capers
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of oregano
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cup of dry red wine (Chianti, merlot, cabernet)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (28oz.), include juice
• 1/4 – cup of chopped flat Italian parsley

Details

Adapted from nj1015.com

Preparation

Step 1

Salt and pepper the chicken and then dredge in flour. In a large Dutch oven pan, add ½ the oil heat over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in batches about 5 – 7 minutes per side. Once golden brown remove chicken and set aside.
Discard excess oil, but don’t scrape the pan. Add remaining oil and once oil is hot add celery, onions, carrots, mushrooms and bell pepper. Reduce heat to medium – medium-low and stir vegetables scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the pieces up. Cook vegetables for a total of 10 – 12 minutes.
Add garlic and oregano and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Add the red wine and increase heat to high. Stir constantly adding tomato paste. Mix sauce well, add tomatoes, lower the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally. Add capers and simmer partially covered for 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add chicken back to pan, cover and place in oven, cook for about 35 minutes. Remove chicken from pan to plate, cover with foil to keep warm. Skim off excess fat from the surface. Bring pan over high heat on stove to a quick boil to reduce sauce. Add parsley. Stir and then ladle sauce over chicken and serve. Serves 6.