Spanish chicken cacciatore

My dad ate this dish with his father at the Spanish club (which sadly doesn’t exist anymore). He never got the original recipe from the owner but recreated it from memory. It was a household staple growing up, and I love it. So humble.

Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 200 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 4 chicken thigh cutlets
• 250 g canned chopped tomatoes
• 300 ml white wine
• 2 red capsicums, sliced quite thickly
• 100 g pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• ½ tsp smoked sweet paprika
• 3 bay leaves

Rice pilaf

• 70 g butter
• 50 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 3 anchovies, chopped
• pinch ground white pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 220 g (1 cup) arborio rice
• 500 ml (2 cups) boiling chicken stock, approximately
• sea salt, to taste

Instructions

1. For the rice pilaf, preheat the oven to 150°C. Heat 50 g butter and the olive oil in a heavy–based, oven-proof frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, anchovies and white pepper and cook until the onion is translucent but not browned. Add the rice, reduce the heat to low and stir for 2-3 minutes or until rice is lightly toasted. Increase the heat to high, add the stock or water (there should be enough to cover the rice by a few millimetres). Do not stir, just shake the pan to incorporate. Add the bay leaves, cover with a piece of greaseproof paper and a lid and bake for 20–25 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven and stand for another 5 minutes with the lid on, to finish steaming.  Use a fork to stir in the remaining butter, then season to taste.
2. Meanwhile, place the olive oil and garlic in large heavy–based frying pan and stir over medium heat until the garlic begins to brown. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside. Salt the chicken thighs and cook until browned on both sides.
3. Add the white wine and return the cooked garlic to the pan and simmer until reduced by half. Add chopped tomatoes, bring back to a simmer, then add the capsicum, olives, paprika and bay leaves. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15–20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve with rice pilaf.

 

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.