Giada chicken cacciatore from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis simmers flour-dredged chicken in a white wine tomato sauce with capers and bell pepper. And the dish serves 4 at approximately 560 calories per serving in about 1 hour, since the sauce does all the work after a quick sear.
Most Italian-American versions of cacciatore drown the chicken in a thick, sweet red sauce, but Giada keeps her base lighter with white wine reduced by half before the tomatoes go in. So the finished sauce tastes brighter and less heavy, which lets the capers and fresh basil come through instead of getting buried.
Removing the breast pieces 10 minutes before the thighs is the technique that keeps both cuts perfectly cooked. And if you leave them all in for the full 30 minutes, the breasts dry out because white meat reaches doneness much faster than dark.
Source: Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis
Giada Chicken Cacciatore
Course: Chicken, DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes1
hour560
kcalSeared chicken pieces come out of the pan while bell pepper, onion, garlic, and oregano sauté in the same oil. Then white wine reduces by half, diced tomatoes and broth build the sauce, and the chicken simmers back in with capers until cooked through.
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
4 chicken thighs
2 chicken breasts with skin and backbone, halved crosswise
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
3 tablespoons olive oil
- For the sauce:
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes with juice
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons drained capers
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
Directions
- Season the chicken: Sprinkle all the pieces with 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
- Dredge in flour: Then coat each piece lightly in flour, shaking off the excess.
- Sear in batches: Once dredged, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high and brown the chicken in 2 batches, about 5 minutes per side.
- Set the chicken aside: Then transfer all the browned pieces to a plate.
- Sauté the vegetables: In the same pan over medium heat, add the bell pepper, onion, garlic, and oregano for about 5 minutes until tender.
- Deglaze with wine: Once the onion is soft, pour in the white wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
- Build the sauce: Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, and capers.
- Return the chicken: Once the sauce is combined, nestle the chicken pieces back in and turn to coat.
- Simmer the breasts: Then bring to a simmer over medium-low and cook the breast pieces for about 20 minutes until just cooked through.
- Remove the breasts: Once the breasts are done, transfer them to a platter and let the thighs continue for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the thighs: Once the thighs hit 30 minutes total, transfer them to the platter as well.
- Reduce the sauce if needed: If the sauce is thin, boil it for about 3 minutes until it thickens slightly, then skim any excess fat.
- Finish and serve: Then spoon the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with fresh basil.
