I just returned from Montalcino where I spent a super relaxing week mostly just hanging in the village. One of my favorite rituals is buying an armful of Italian cooking magazines and saving them to devour 😉 on the plane ride home. I spied a tasty white wine version of a cacciatore in this month’s issue of Sale&Pepe (hands down my favorite Italian cooking magazine) and couldn’t get it out of my mind so decided to make a briny version for dinner last night.
I was flying solo on this trip as Jay was back at home overseeing our garage construction which is in full swing. 🙏 I spent the week mostly cooking in my little kitchen (my very favorite spot), sprucing up the place, relaxing with friends over long dinners and my food highlight for the week – sharing a tartufo estive (summer truffle) with a friend who graciously shaved it over some sliced bread and drizzled it with the freshest of olive oils. ✨ A very grateful girl indeed ❤️ I even got to take the rest of the truffle home which I shaved over softly scrambled eggs for dinner 😋.
My favorite place to be…
cooking in my little kitchen
The village from my window at sunset 
A very lucky girl got to share a ‘tartufo estive’ – summer truffle – with a friend 
An evening passeggiata
Back to my briny cacciatore! Most of us are familiar with the Italian-American version of this dish – chicken simmered with tomatoes and peppers. In Italy, the dish is typically referred to as ‘alla cacciatora‘ – which is a dish prepared hunter’s style and can be made with other meats such as rabbit. The version I spied in the June issue of Sale&Pepe was a lip-smacking bianca (white) version which simmered rabbit with a few anchovies, vinegar, white wine and stock until the meat was meltingly tender.
I decided to sub in bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for my version of this cacciatore but you can also use whatever chicken pieces make you happy – a cut-up chicken with both white and dark meat would also work well. I decided to brine mine up a bit with the addition of briny green olives and capers. This dish comes together in about 30 minutes and then simmers quietly on the stove until the meat is tender. You could also make this ahead of time and reheat just prior to serving. I served mine with some simple roasted potatoes and fresh local asparagus.
Super easy and quick meal with lots of yummy umami (say that a few times fast 😁).
Enjoy and buon appetito!
Tanti baci,
Michele ❤️
Briny Chicken Cacciatore
Description
For this briny version of chicken cacciatore, chicken is simmered in vinegar and white wine along with anchovies, green olives and capers which makes for a umami-packed meal.
Ingredients
- About 2 ½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or whole chicken cut into pieces)
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, diced
- A pinch red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 cup green olives, such as Castelvetrano, pitted and smashed
- About 2 tablespoons capers in brine, drained
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry. Season generously with salt and pepper. In a large deep skillet with a lid or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown well on all sides, about 10 minutes. You may need to do this in batches. Remove the chicken to a platter. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of oil from pan.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and add in the anchovies and stir until the anchovies dissolve. Add in the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Pour in the vinegar and wine and bring to a boil. Allow the liquid to cook until reduced about half. Add in the rosemary sprig, olives, capers and allow to cook for about a minute. Pour in the stock. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken and any juices back into the pan. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Gently simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Check the pan occasionally and add a little water if the pan is looking dry. Cooking time will depend on the type of chicken pieces used, about 20 minutes if using chicken thighs.
- Uncover and remove the chicken to a serving platter. Raise the heat to medium and cook until the sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Spoon sauce over the chicken and serve!
This looks fantastic! My mother used to make chicken cacciatore Sicilian style she called it. It was with garlic, red wine vinegar, water and mint. Cooked the same way. And we serve it in a bowl with all the juice and dunk Italian bread in the juice. I sometimes thicken the sauce and serve it with pasta. Can’t wait to try this version!
Delicious! I haven’t made chicken this way in ages but I remember how good and full of flavor it was! Need to get back to this classic soon!