Photography: Ben Dearnley. Styling: Vivien Walsh.
Saving money on the grocery bill doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavour or freshness. Here Julie Goodwin gets thrifty with her chicken cacciatore, a flavoursome and warming Italian classic. It’s a hearty bowl of comfort your family will love.
For more midweek dinner ideas check out our collection of easy one pot meals.
Ingredients
Method
Toss the chicken pieces in flour and shake off any excess. Heat the oil in a large wide saucepan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place the floured chicken, skin-side down, in the pan in two batches and cook for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Turn and brown on the other side for about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan.
Pour off most of the fat in the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon. Cook the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and oregano leaves, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until soft and fragrant. Add the wine and bring to the boil. Stir in the undrained tomatoes and ½ cup water. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan, skin-side down; cover with the lid. Simmer for 15 minutes, then turn the chicken over.
Scatter the risoni around the pan; cover and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the risoni is “al dente”, just tender. Season to taste. Scatter with parsley.
Serve chicken with salad of cos, tomatoes, olives and fetta, drizzled with a little extra oil, if desired.
Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.
The pasta will soak up liquid if the dish is left to stand. Add some stock or water on reheating if needed, to form a sauce.
Julie’s notes
This recipe ran in The Australian Women’s Weekly in 2015 and was published online in 2024.
