Chicken Cacciatore

I remember my mum making this dish way back in the day when having Italian food at home was a wee bit of a novelty. It's not a fancy dish. Just a hearty one pot dish with chunky bits of chicken on the bone with lots of punchy tomato sauce. Comfort in a bowl.

Chicken Cacciatore
6 pieces of chicken on the bone (I jointed a whole chicken and used the legs and wings for this dish)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 glass of red wine (anything drinkable is fine with me - I'm not fussy)
2 tsp tomato purée
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
a good handful of black olives
generous splash of olive oil
salt and pepper

• Heat the pan on a medium to high heat and add the olive oil.
  
• Place the chicken into the pan and let it brown. Don't attempt to move the chicken around too much at this point as the meat will stick to the pan. Once a lovely golden brown, turn the pieces of chicken over to cook on the other side.
  
• After all the sides are browned, lift the chicken out of the pan onto a plate and keep warm. Drain the fat from the pan, leaving only a tablespoonful or two.
• On a medium heat, add the onions and garlic. Once the onions are translucent and the garlic is smelling gorgeous, add the tomato purée. Mix it into the onions and garlic. Let the tomato purée cook out for a few seconds before adding the chicken pack into the pan.
• Add the wine and tomatoes. Season.
  
• Stir and let the mixture come to a boil to cook out the alcohol from the wine. Once the acidic smell has evaporated, the alcohol has cooked off.
• Scatter the olives and put the lid on the pan. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

I served the chicken with a quick stir fry of spring greens and garlic flat breads from M&S. Rather delicious on evenings when the weather is still not quite warm enough for a salad.