Hunting for a classic

Researching recipes often feels like traveling to me, and one of my favorite destinations to explore is Italy. Rich in history, this relatively small country is made up of 107 provinces within 20 political regions, each with distinct culinary traditions. While there is much diversity in Italian cuisine, one commonality is the practice of showcasing a few quality ingredients using simple straightforward preparations.

In Italian, this dish translates to Hunter's Style Chicken and is one found across Italy, with hundreds of regionally specific variations. This version, with its abundance of fresh rosemary simmered in tomatoes, comes from Tuscany, a region as famous for its cuisine as it is for its wine. The resulting chicken is tender and aromatic, punctuated by the brightness of the tomatoes.

Ingredients:

6-8 bone-in skinless chicken thighs

1 ½ teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

8 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise

2-3 stems fresh rosemary

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes with juice

¼ cup pitted green olives, halved

Chopped flat leaf parsley and grated Parmesan for serving

Directions:

Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry. Season with half the salt. Pour olive oil in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan or Dutch oven and set over medium-high heat. Lay chicken pieces in oil and brown for 2-3 minutes. Flip, and brown for another 2-3 minutes. Next, scatter the sliced garlic, rosemary, and red chili flakes into the oil between the chicken pieces.

Keep moving the chicken and garlic around the pan until nicely browned for another 4-6 minutes. Browning should take a total of ten minutes. Don't let the garlic burn. Pour the tomatoes with all their juices into the pan. Add one cup of water to the can, slosh around and then pour that into the pan as well. Stir in the rest of the salt and bring to a boil.

Cover pan, leaving it cracked ajar, and reduce heat to maintain a steady but gentle simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring and flipping the chicken. Remove the lid, add the olives, and cook for another 20 minutes or more, until chicken is fork-tender with sauce slightly reduced. Check seasoning, add more salt and red pepper to taste.

Serve immediately, or if you have the time, let the chicken rest and cool in the pan for an hour, then reheat when ready to serve. Garnish with chopped parsley and have a bowl of grated Parmesan for passing around the table.

Notes:

For an earthy variation try using mushrooms instead of olives. Use about a half-pound of cremini or wild mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms in the pan, before the chicken, for 15-20 minutes until golden. Transfer mushrooms to a plate, season to taste with salt, and set aside as you continue with the recipe. You will probably need to add more oil to the pan before browning the chicken. Add mushrooms to the browned chicken, with any accumulated juices, at the same time as the tomatoes. Finish recipe as above.

My favorite way to serve this is over creamy polenta, but it is also lovely with a tubular pasta, such as rigatoni. Crusty bread for sopping up the sauce could also be a simple accompaniment.

In Italy, this dish is often made with rabbit, while other variations use wildfowl such as pheasant, a true hunter's delight!

For this understated Tuscan version of Pollo alla Cacciatora, I wanted a medium-bodied dry red wine with bright fruit and a delicate nose for a balanced pairing. I ended up traveling a little farther north, to my favorite Italian wine region, Piedmont, and chose a 2019 Barbera D'Asti by Franco Serra.

Buon appetito!