Chicken Cacciatore

Legend has it that the traditional version of this dish was made by the wives of Italian’s to greet them after a hard day’s hunting - cacciatore = ‘hunter’s style’.

In my house it is simply a wonderful and delicious dish to greet the entire family after a day of various activities.

The method and ingredients vary depending on different regions of Italy and mine veers towards Northern Italy with the use of white wine over red. I also invariably use smoked bacon when I don't have any pancetta in my fridge, and this works equally well. Recipes are invariably adaptable.

I use economic and flavourful chicken thighs and drumsticks here for a hearty dish, but you could just as easily use breast meat and rabbit is also often used in Italy.

You could serve with any rice, polenta or potato but I love this served on fresh tagliatelle - it's delicious, and the soft buttery ribbons soak up the sauce perfectly.

The below serves 3-4.

Chicken Cacciatore

Here’s how:

• 6-8 chicken pieces (I use thighs and drumsticks) 
• 1 large carrot 
• 3 cloves garlic 
• 5 spring onions 
• 2 rashers of smoked bacon, or 3 pancetta slices (you could also use cured ham such as Prosciutto) 
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes 
• 100g mushrooms 
• 1 large glass of white wine 
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary 
• Sea salt 
• Black pepper 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• Handful fresh parsley 

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees (if you need to speed up the cooking process then 180).

Now drizzle the olive oil into a pan and place on a medium heat.

Generously season the chicken pieces all over and place into the hot pan to sear. Ideally you want them to be a little brown, turn them over to sear all round.

In the meantime finely slice the spring onions and garlic and place into a casserole dish.

Peel and finely dice the carrot and add to the dish.

Slice the mushrooms and set aside for now.

Also roughly chop the parsley and also set aside.

Once seared, add the chicken to the casserole dish.

Cut the bacon or pancetta into small squares and add to the chicken fat to cook for 3 minutes, turning once. Now add to the casserole dish.

Now add the chopped tomatoes, white wine and rosemary to the dish and stir well.

Give a final seasoning of black pepper, place the lid on top or cover with a tight foil lid and place into the oven for 1 hour and forty five minutes. Cooking at a low temperature for this long, yields really juicy, tender chicken that falls off the bone with a simple prod of the fork. As I mentioned, if you’re struggling for time, you can speed things up and turn the oven onto 180 degrees and cook in 45-50 minutes, but a longer approach gives a better, richer and more intensely sweet flavour.

For the final 15 minutes of cooking time, remove the dish from the pan, add the sliced mushrooms and stir well then return to the oven without the lid.

Serve the chicken cacciatore on top of fresh tagliatelle and throw over the parsley as a final flourish.

Applewood Spreadable Challenge: Cheesy Pea, Leek and Pancetta Gnocchi Bake

The lovely people at Applewood Cheese invited 20 food bloggers, including myself, to take part in the #SpreadStirShare challenge – a fun initiative to come up with family-friendly recipes using their latest product – Applewood Spreadable. I was sent a lovely hamper filled with some gorgeous fresh produce, a sample of Applewood Spreadable and a bottle of Concha Y Toro Sunrise Merlot all of which certainly gave me some food for thought!

Applewood Cheese has been around since 1965, when it was developed in Ilchester; and is famed for its’ distinct, smoked flavour that’s finished with a sprinkling of paprika. Being a fan of smoky cheeses I was keen to try the Applewood Spreadable to see if this new variety had kept all of the qualities that make the original stand out. I was impressed with the strong smoky flavour that has remained in what really is a versatile product.

The challenge is entitled #SpreadStirShare to highlight the many ways in which Applewood Spreadable can be enjoyed and I’m happy to say that outside of the three recipes that I’ve created and will share over the following three posts, I have ideas for many more dishes in which Applewood Spreadable could work well.

My first recipe is a Cheesy Pea, Leek and Pancetta Gnocchi Bake that’s finished with a crushed walnut crumb to give a lovely nutty crust and added texture. Served with some salad this made a delicious, hearty meal for four.

Here’s how:

500g fresh gnocchi

100-150g fresh leeks, trimmed

2 cloves garlic

150g pancetta

75g fresh peas

2 tbsp crème fraiche

60g Applewood Spreadable

7-8 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tbsp crushed walnuts

10g grated Cheddar or Parmesan

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Firstly chop the leeks finely and crush the garlic. Add the olive oil to a pan on a medium heat and gently sauté the leeks and garlic.

Dice the pancetta and add to the pan once the leeks have started to soften. Stir through and allow to cook for five minutes.

In the meantime cook the gnocchi in a pan of salted, boiling water – two minutes maximum as the gnocchi will be baked in the oven and otherwise they will become a mush if overcooked. Drain and set aside for a moment.

Add the fresh peas to the pan with the leeks and pancetta and allow to cook for another minute or so; and then stir through the crème fraiche and the Applewood Spreadable. Once the cheese has melted into the crème fraiche to make an even, silky sauce, remove from the heat and stir through the drained gnocchi, ensuring every little piece is evenly coated.

Season generously and then run your fingers through 3-4 sprigs of the thyme to extract the leaves and stir through then transfer to an oven-proof dish. (I used a dish suitable for both the hob and the oven to save on washing up!)

Either place the walnuts in a food bag and crush with a rolling pin or do the same with a pestle and mortar or a food processor and scatter over the top of the dish to make a crumb that will turn golden brown during cooking. Scatted over the 10g of grated hard cheese and finally place the remaining sprigs of thyme across the dish.

Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top has turned a glorious golden brown. Enjoy!

To find out more about Applewood Cheese, Applewood Spreadable and the #SpreadStirShare challenge as well as keeping up with the other recipes from some fabulous other bloggers check out the Applewood news blog: http://applewoodcheese.co.uk/blog.php