The world adores matt hayward

Cacciatore is a provincial Italian dish that everyone cooks differently. I’ve never had it the same way twice in a restaurant. It’s humble, yet tasty and really satisfying. My mum used to cook it all the time, so I thought it was quite normal, but no one else seems to have heard of it, so I thought i’d ’share’. I fudged this version up last night and it tasted awesome. It’s one of those things you cook differently every time, but man this one was brill. So if your perception of Italian food is simple yet elegant and hearty, give this one a go.

Chicken Cacciatore (2-3 serves)
- 5-6 chicken drumsticks or wings
- Spices: sumac, oregano, sea salt, paprika
- 2 decent sized sticks celery
- 1/2 cup red wine (preferably lambrusco. Very cheap. Or whatever you’ve got. Preferably italian)
- 2 tins Roma tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed and quartered
- half decent olive oil
- sliced black olives to taste (reading a shitload)
- 5 small mushies, sliced fine
- rice, 2 cups Jasmine or Basmati.

directions
Get a big arsed stock pot, put it on your biggest gas flame and get it nice and hot. Bung in the olive oil. Then throw in the garlic to infuse a bit. Now comes the Celery, chopped reasonably fine. Give it a good fry up for at least 5 minutes to infuse the garlic into your veg, otherwise it tastes a bit blando. Chuck in some sea salt too.

Now put the celery and garlic aside and chuck the chicken in. It’s ok to use frozen chicken, but you’ll want to simmer it extra long. Brown them evenly and give a good covering of sumac, paprika and sea salt. A good 10 mins should do the trick. Return the celery and garlic to the pan and now throw in the two cans of toms, juice and all. Now turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer. Last but not least, pour in the wine, mushies and olives. 1/2 cup is an approximation, you know what you like. Don’t waste your best shiraz on your cooking though. Even cask wine will do.

If you’re using a rice cooker now, time to put the rice on. The cacciatore should gently bubble for at least 45 minutes. Careful it doesn’t get too watery. When your rice is done, it’s time to eat.

The good news is, that like most curries, this gets better and better if you freeze it and heat it up again.

To drink
This isn’t a very overpowering dish, so you could even have a white wine like a Chardonnay. Softer reds like a Pinot Noir or especially a Sangiovese would suit this to a tee.