Chicken Cacciatore

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (3 pieces) or 1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, if you prefer dark meat
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (2 turns around the pan)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 portabella mushroom caps, halved crosswise and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
• 1/2 cup beef broth or 1/2 cup stock
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 lb egg noodles or 1 lb egg fettuccine pasta, cooked to al dente
• crusty bread
• grated parmigiano or romano cheese, for passing

Recipe

• 1 heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
• 2 add half of the extra-virgin olive oil and brown chicken breasts or thighs for 3 or 4 minutes on each side.
• 3 remove chicken from pan and season with salt and pepper.
• 4 return pan to stove, reduce heat to medium and add the remaining.
• 5 add crushed pepper, sliced mushrooms, and garlic.
• 6 season with salt (salt is a magnet for drawing out liquid).
• 7 cover and cook mushrooms 5 minutes or until mushrooms are dark, tender and have given off their juices.
• 8 add about 1/2 cup of beef broth to intensify the wild mushroom flavor, then stir in the tomatoes and parsley.
• 9 cut the chicken into bite-size chunks or slices and add to sauce.
• 10 simmer sauce 5 minutes to finish cooking chicken pieces and to allow the flavors to combine.
• 11 toss pasta with cacciatore and serve with crusty bread and grated cheese.