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Whether you are cooking the Italian Chicken Cacciatore or the French Chicken Chasseur, it is the same slowly braised sauce and luscious tender chicken with the vegetables that make this a great nutri-dense, LCHF dish.

Regional variations of Chicken Cacciatore or hunter’s wife’s chicken are made throughout Italy, and while most are cooked with mushrooms, tomatoes, red capsicum, stock, pancetta, white wine and a variety of herbs, some are cooked with olives, celery, even one with chickpeas as well.

In France, hunter’s wife’s chicken is called Chicken Chasseur, which is traditionally made with white wine, tomatoes, onions, you can add some bacon, or kaiserfleisch, speck, what the French call lardons; but using speck, kaiserfleisch or bacon is not usual. I love the bacon and so I always include it in my Chicken Chasseur. They are both delicious braises for these cold wintry days.  For us at home, I often add whatever extra vegetables I feel like such as finely sliced kale, cabbage, green capsicums.

Ingredients:

30g dried porcini, rehydrated
6, about 1.8kg, chicken thighs, roughly chopped into large pieces, seasoned
20ml olive oil
150g piece pancetta, bacon, or speck, rind removed, chopped into 1cm pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, seeded and sliced
1 green capsicum, seeded and sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed with the knife
3 sprigs rosemary, optional
180ml dry white wine
500ml passata or a can of Anna Lisa tomatoes
500ml chicken stock
300g mixed mushrooms, button, portobello, Swiss, King Oyster, quartered
30g butter and 30 ml olive oil
½ bunch kale, stem discarded, finely sliced; or green or red cabbage
Garnish
Basil pesto, optional – see my recipe

Method:

To rehydrate the porcini, put it in a small bowl and pour just enough boiling water over to cover.  Set aside until soft and ready to use.
Season chicken with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Roughly chop. Prepare all ingredients while the chicken comes to room temperature.
Take heavy-based saucepan place over medium heat and add the olive oil.  When hot enough to sizzle the chicken, add the chopped chicken in small batches and cook until each batch has caramelised and golden.  Remove and transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium, add pancetta and cook for 4 minutes or until browned and fat renders. Remove and transfer to the plate.
Add some more olive oil if necessary and add the onion and cook on low heat, slowly for 10 minutes; add the celery and capsicum, cook a further 3 minutes, then stir in garlic and rosemary and cook a further 2 minutes.
Add wine; cook until reduced by half.
While the wine is reducing, clean and quarter the mushrooms; take a frying pan, add some of the butter and olive oil and when sizzling, cook the mushrooms in small batches, until they are golden and caramelised. As they are cooked add to the set-aside chicken.
Now, add the passata and stock, bring to the simmer, add the porcini and mushrooms. Return chicken to the pan continue to gently simmer, covered for 30 – 40 minutes or until chicken is tender.
At the last minute, add kale, cabbage or any other greens you are using; stir for 2 minutes or until leaves are wilted and greens cooked. Check the seasoning and adjust with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
Serve with some wok-tossed broccolini. And a dollop of pesto on the side.

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