It is a term that, regardless of the geographical location of the recipe, indicates simple, country-style preparations with a robust flavor.
You can learn how to make authentic Chicken cacciatora at MaMa Florence cooking school! MaMa's Traditonal Tuscan cooking classes are perfect for learning classic Tuscan recipes you can recraete at home!
It is a type of preparation that cannot be traced back to a single method, since chicken, rabbit and lamb are cooked alla cacciatora. However, one can basically distinguish between two types of preparation: those of northern Italy, which are usually stews with onion, tomato, lard or bacon, sometimes mushrooms; and those of central Italy, which are based on a flavoring of garlic, rosemary and vinegar.
Free-range chicken compared to farmed chicken is always highly recommended as its texture and fragrance are never questioned: the meat is tougher but certainly less stringy, especially in the breast, and definitely tastier.
This is a recipe from Emilia, a workhorse of home cooking, now widespread throughout northern Italy. The chicken needs to be cut into medium-sized pieces, sprinkled with salt, rosemary and garlic, and left like this for about an hour. Put it in a non-stick pan, brown it without added fat and when it is golden brown, add a glass of white wine and cook until the wine has evaporated. After setting it aside, put the sliced onions in the same frying pan, brown them with the bacon, and cook everything with the tomato sauce.When the sauce is cooked, put the chicken back in, adding the stock, over moderate heat, for another half an hour. The chicken is served hot with a drizzle of evo oil.