CHICKEN CACCIATORE



CHICKEN CACCIATORE
My husband, Ian, loved this meal of tender chicken thighs in an exceptionally tasty, rich sauce.  This is a quick meal to prepare and tasty enough to serve to informal company.  Even with reheating the chicken remains tender and delicious.  I love this sauce.  It would probably be a great sauce for stirring into cauli-rice.  Yummy!

6 tbsp olive oil, divided (90 mL)
1 medium onion, diced
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (411 g)
1/3  cup tomato paste (75 mL)
11/3  cups water (325 mL)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (60 mL)
1 tsp crushed garlic (5 mL)
9 boneless chicken thighs
Seasoning salt, to taste
1/2 cup grated Mozzarella cheese, (125 mL)
  Optional
Zucchini angel hair “pasta”

In nonstick frying pan in 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil, fry onion until caramelized.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese and garlic.  Cook until heated through. 

In another nonstick frying pan in 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil, cook half chicken thighs and sprinkle with seasoning salt on both sides.  Turn occasionally during 10 minutes until they are nicely browned on both sides.  Place cooked chicken and pan drippings in tomato sauce pan and place over low heat to cook gently.  Repeat with the remainder of the chicken thighs.  Do make sure the chicken is cooked properly (i.e. no pink inside).  Add to the chicken cooking in the sauce and heat through thoroughly.

Serve over zucchini “pasta” with a sprinkling of Mozzarella cheese, if using.

Helpful Hints:  I use a Joyce Chen® spiral slicer that I bought via the internet.  Nuke the “pasta” in the microwave oven 2 minutes or more until tender.  When serving the hot chicken cacciatore over the pasta, some liquid will escape the zucchini; mop the perimeter of the dinner plate with a clean paper towel and serve.  People will use varying amounts of “pasta”, so add the carbs accordingly.  Sometimes, however, the zucchini will look juicy after nuking.  Gently squeeze the juice out over a colander or take handfuls (make sure your hands are very clean) and gently squeeze over a bowl. You can also make this meal using chicken breasts.  I usually cut the chicken into big chunks.  I noticed chicken breasts took longer to cook. You can finish cooking it in the sauce so that it absorbs the flavor of the sauce.

Yield: 6 servings (analysis shown without the "pasta")
1 serving
165.2 calories
19.5 g protein
5.8 g fat
6.0 g net carbs



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