Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore
from Our Best Bites

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. chicken breasts or chicken breasts and thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 c. white flour

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. olive oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and either crushed or halved

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

1 c. white wine, white cooking wine, or apple or white grape juice

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. marjoram

1/2 tsp. salt (omit if using cooking wine; you may shrivel up and die if you add the salt in addition to cooking wine because cooking wine is treated with salt to make it undrinkable)

1 bay leaf

1 c. sliced mushrooms

1 green bell pepper, chopped
spaghetti (We really like multi grain or wheat pasta!)
we sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and garlic and stir frequently until onions are tender and garlic is fragrant. Remove with a slotted spoon (this is why you need to keep the onion and garlic pieces big), shake off excess oil, and transfer to your blender. Increase heat to medium-high.
2. In a large Ziploc bag, combine flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. black pepper. Add chicken pieces, seal bag, and shake to coat pieces with flour.
3. Dump the entire bag into the hot pan and stir quickly to prevent pieces from sticking together. Saute until chicken is golden. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
4. While chicken is draining, add wine, chicken broth, tomato paste, thyme, and marjoram to the onions and garlic in the blender. Blend until smooth.
5. Place chicken and bay leaf in your slow cooker and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3.5-4 hours.
6. When you have about 1/2 hour to go, add the mushrooms and the chopped green pepper. Cook until mushrooms and pepper are tender. Boil water and cook spaghetti. Remove bay leaf from crock pot and serve over pasta.

This was delicious with wonderful flavor! Joe said it tasted great as leftovers as well. We served the cacciatore with these breadsticks for our Sunday dinner!