Tuscan cuisine: Cacciatora

I am not big in cooking, but I do like a cacciatore because it is very easy to make, it can be married with most accompaniments to make a highly nutritious meal and it uses fresh ingredients available even from your own vegetable garden. You can always add something else to your basic recipe or exchange meats to give a different flavour to an otherwise succulent warming dish.

Cacciatora is an Italian word that means hunter, thus a cacciatora is a hunter's stew. Usually the stew is made with local seasonal ingredients which include meat (chicken, rabbit or veal) onions, tomatoes, wine and mushrooms.

Americans usually spell cacciatora as cacciatore and the most popular meat used for this dish is chicken. In Italy a cacciatore is made with a whole carcass cut into eatable pieces. In some areas of Italy it is not rare to add sausages or salami to this dish.

Most recipes are very high in fat as the traditional way of cooking the chicken is keeping the skin on for flavour. If you are concerned about following a heart healthy diet you can skin the chicken or use lean pieces for your recipe. If not, you can just do like the Mediterraneans and wash it down with a good red wine to help clean your arteries. I certainly prefer the second option!

What to eat with your cacciatora?

Italians usually accompany their stews with pasta, rice or polenta. The British would usually eat their stew with potatoes while the French and Spanish prefer to eat it with crusty bread.

This is best made as a seasonal recipe. I mean avoid using canned foods, the fresher your ingredients, the better taste your stew will have. It is better made when the tomatoes season is at is highest in your area with meat that is fresh and not frozen. That is the only secret to a truly delicious traditional meal.

You will need:

• 1.5 kg Traditional Free Range chicken, rabbit or veal cut into 8 pieces

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced

• 700 g ripe red tomatoes

• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

• 1 level tablespoon tomato purée

• 1 level tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, bruised and finely chopped

• 1 bay leaf 10 fl oz (275 ml)

• dry white wine

• salt and freshly milled black pepper

You will also need a lidded 3.5 lt. flameproof casserole or a wok. I do actually prefer to use a wok for this because it stands the high heat for browning the meat better, it is less messy and the ingredients do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Preparation:

• First of all heat the oil in the casserole over a high heat. Season the chicken, rabbit or veal with salt and pepper and fry it in the hot wok. If you have too many pieces of meat, fry them in batches so your meat is well browned in all sides. When your meat has a lovely golden colour, take it out and put it aside.

• Add the onions to the pan and turn the heat down to medium. Cook until softened and nicely browned at the edges. This will take about 10 minutes. If you like, here you can also add some carrots finely chopped and celery.

• Open the wine and pour yourself a glass while you wait for your onions. This might stop you from crying with the onion juices... Ok. I made that up... but I am sure you would enjoy a glass of wine anyway.

• Meanwhile, skin the tomatoes and chop them quite small. When the onions are browned, add the garlic, let it brown a bit and add the tomatoes, tomato purée, rosemary, bay leaf and white wine. Taste it and add any extra seasoning. Let the stew boil, bubble and reduce its amount (without covering) to about half its original volume, which will take about 20 minutes.

• Add the browned meat, cover and simmer gently for 40 minutes until the meat is cooked through. Beware that if you use chicken breast only your simmering time should be much shorter. According to your taste and your mood you can add now some olives and /or mushrooms. Be creative and have fun cooking this dish.

• This is good served with pasta, polenta, rice or a simple vegetable with crusty bread.

A cacciatore is a heavily flavoured dish, so you will need a dry red wine with a tannic taste. It goes very well with relatively young wines like a Bolla Sangiovese, a wine from the Emilia Romagna region in Italy. The Sangiovese di Romagna is an easy to drink dry wine with a straightforward, spicy-fruity flavour. It goes very well with pasta and tomato sauce, chicken, veal and pork.

The Bolla Sangiovese 2005 has a spicy, ripe fruit taste and goes very well with all meat dishes, and with traditional Italian entrees. You can find it from about $7 or 5 euros.

If you are stuck for a wine, remember that usually a wine from the area where your dish comes from is the best one to go along with your meal.