There is no one canonical recipe for chicken cacciatora. I'm used to seeing it as chicken in a tomato sauce with olives and bell peppers, but it turns out that there are many different regional variations on the dish. I looked at a few recipes and then just sort of rolled my own based on them.

I went for a fairly mild flavour here because I wanted to serve it with some stuffed pasta and vegetable sides and didn't want the chicken to overwhelm everything else. If I were serving it on its own or over pasta, I would probably add some tomatoes and olives and chop the chicken up smaller. I'd probably also add extra garlic and maybe a bit of extra onion too. But, for what I wanted tonight, this was just right.

Pollo alla Cacciatora

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. flour
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1kg skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• rosemary and sage (fresh is best, but dried also works)
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 4-5 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced (optional)
• ~12 olives, sliced (optional)
• 4-6 roma tomatoes, diced (optional)
• 1/4 c. vinegar (optional)
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper.
2. If your chicken breasts are very large, split them so they're not too thick.
3. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.
4. Heat the oil over medium heat.
5. Add the dredged chicken along with a few fresh sage leaves and sprigs of rosemary (or equivalent amounts of dried).
6. Cook until the chicken gets a bit of colour on it. Flip and do the same on the other side. Then remove it from the pan. (It will still be raw in the centre. That's okay!)
7. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper (if using) to the pan and cook until softened and starting to colour. Season with a little salt and pepper. (Omit the salt if you will be using commercial stock.)
8. Add the olives and tomatoes (if using) and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
9. If not using tomatoes, add the vinegar at this point and deglaze the pan. If using tomatoes, skip the vinegar.
10. Return the chicken to the pan along with any accumulted juices and any left over dreding flour.
11. Add the wine and mix everything around a bit.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
13. Add the stock, stir, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.
14. Drizzle in balsamic vinegar (if using).
15. Serve on its own or over pasta or polenta.