Chef Graziella
Cotoletta di Pollo alla Milanese
The golden cutlet of Lombardy, where chicken is pounded thin, coated in the finest crumbs, and fried in butter until it shatters at the touch of a fork. Lemon is the only adornment it needs.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Pollo alla Cacciatora Toscana
Created by
Hunter's chicken as the Tuscan hills have always known it: bronzed chicken simmered with red wine, tomatoes, olives, and the herbs that grow wild along the roadsides. There is no cream. There never was.
Main Dishes
Italian, Tuscan
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
30 min
Active Time
1 hr 15 min cook•1 hr 45 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Alla cacciatora means 'hunter's style,' and this is how hunters in the Tuscan countryside have cooked game birds and chicken for generations. They carried what they needed: a flask of wine, a few tomatoes, olives for sustenance on the trail, herbs picked from the roadside. The sauce built itself from what was at hand.
Americans have corrupted this dish beyond recognition. Cream sauces, bell peppers in three colors, enough garlic to ward off vampires. None of this belongs. The unbalanced use of garlic is the single greatest cause of failure in would-be Italian cooking. Here you use three cloves, sliced thin, cooked gently. They contribute perfume, not assault.
The wine must be good enough to drink. Chianti is traditional because Chianti is what grows in Tuscany. The olives should be small and briny, the kind that taste of the Mediterranean. What you keep out is as significant as what you put in. Simple does not mean easy. It means every ingredient earns its place.
Cacciatore preparations appear in Italian cookbooks from at least the Renaissance, when hunters needed methods to cook game in the field with minimal equipment. The Tuscan version, with its reliance on local Chianti wine and the region's superb olive oil, became codified in farmhouse kitchens throughout the Chianti hills. Each family guards its proportions, but the foundation remains constant: good wine, restrained tomato, and herbs from the garden.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole chicken
Quantity
1 (3 1/2 to 4 pounds)
cut into 8 pieces
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/4 cup
yellow onion
Quantity
1 medium
sliced thin
celery stalks
Quantity
2
sliced thin
carrot
Quantity
1 medium
peeled and sliced thin
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
sliced thin
dry red wine
Quantity
1 cup
San Marzano tomatoes
Quantity
1 can (14 ounces)
crushed by hand
chicken broth
Quantity
1 cup
fresh rosemary
Quantity
2 sprigs
fresh sage leaves
Quantity
4
bay leaf
Quantity
1
black olives
Quantity
1/2 cup
pitted
capers
Quantity
2 tablespoons
rinsed if salt-packed
crusty bread
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole chickencut into 8 pieces | 1 (3 1/2 to 4 pounds) |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1/4 cup |
| yellow onionsliced thin | 1 medium |
| celery stalkssliced thin | 2 |
| carrotpeeled and sliced thin | 1 medium |
| garlic clovessliced thin | 3 |
| dry red wine | 1 cup |
| San Marzano tomatoescrushed by hand | 1 can (14 ounces) |
| chicken broth | 1 cup |
| fresh rosemary | 2 sprigs |
| fresh sage leaves | 4 |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| black olivespitted | 1/2 cup |
| capersrinsed if salt-packed | 2 tablespoons |
| crusty bread | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 12-inch braising pan or 6-quart Dutch oven with lid
- •Tongs for turning chicken
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Season the chicken
Pat the chicken pieces completely dry with paper towels. Season generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes while you prepare the vegetables. Cold chicken from the refrigerator will not brown properly. It will steam and turn gray.
- 2
Brown the chicken
Heat the olive oil in a heavy braising pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it shimmers but does not smoke. Working in batches to avoid crowding, add the chicken pieces skin-side down. Do not move them. Let them cook undisturbed until the skin is deeply golden and releases easily from the pan, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn and brown the other side, 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. The fond that develops on the bottom of the pan is essential to the final sauce.
Crowding the pan is the enemy of browning. The chicken releases moisture; if the pieces touch, they steam instead of sear. Work in two batches. Patience here pays dividends later. - 3
Build the soffritto
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, until the vegetables soften and the onion becomes translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the sliced garlic and cook one minute more. The garlic should become fragrant but must not brown. Brown garlic turns bitter and will ruin the sauce.
- 4
Add the wine
Pour in the wine and increase heat to high. Let it boil vigorously, scraping up any remaining fond, until reduced by half. You should smell wine, not raw alcohol. This takes 3 to 4 minutes. The sauce will appear syrupy and the vegetables will be glazed.
- 5
Add tomatoes and braise
Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, rosemary, sage, and bay leaf. Stir to combine. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, nestling them into the liquid. The liquid should come halfway up the chicken; it should not cover it. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover partially (leave a gap of about one inch) and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 45 minutes.
Never cook a sauce in a fully covered pan. The moisture has nowhere to escape, the sauce never concentrates, and you lose the depth that reduction provides. - 6
Finish with olives and capers
Add the olives and capers to the sauce. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes more to allow the flavors to meld and the sauce to thicken slightly. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The olives and capers contribute salt, so you may need less than you expect. Remove the rosemary sprigs and bay leaf.
- 7
Rest and serve
Let the cacciatore rest off heat for 5 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute and the sauce to settle. Serve directly from the braising pan, or transfer to a warm serving platter. Bring crusty bread to the table. The bread is not optional. The sauce deserves to be mopped up completely.
Chef Tips
- •Ask your butcher to cut the chicken into proper pieces: two wings, two drumsticks, two thighs, and two breast pieces. Or learn to do it yourself. The supermarket packages with eight identical pieces are not what you want.
- •The dish improves overnight. Make it a day ahead for a dinner party. The chicken absorbs the sauce and the flavors deepen. Reheat gently, covered, adding a splash of broth if the sauce has thickened too much.
- •Some Tuscan cooks add a tablespoon of tomato paste with the garlic to deepen the color. This is acceptable. What is not acceptable is adding bell peppers, mushrooms, or oregano. These belong to other regions, other traditions.
- •If your olives are very salty, soak them in cold water for 30 minutes before adding. Taste one first to know.
Advance Preparation
- •The completed cacciatore can be refrigerated for up to three days. The flavor improves with time. Reheat gently over low heat until warmed through.
- •The chicken can be browned several hours ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before continuing with the braise.
- •The dish freezes adequately for two months, though the texture of the chicken skin softens. For best results, make and serve within three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 380g)
Calories
615 calories
Total Fat
44 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
31 g
Cholesterol
160 mg
Sodium
875 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
39 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Chef Graziella's Poultry Main Dishes
Browse the full collection
Chef Graziella
Faraona Arrosto con Pancetta e Salvia
The noble guinea fowl of Tuscan farmhouses, wrapped in pancetta, perfumed with sage, roasted until the skin shatters and the meat stays moist. This is what Italians bring to the table when ordinary poultry will not serve.
Chef Graziella
Gallina in Brodo
The patient art of Emilian grandmothers: a mature laying hen surrendered to the pot, emerging as both golden broth for tortellini and tender meat for the table. Nothing is wasted.
Chef Graziella
Pollo ai Limoni alla Siciliana
A whole chicken roasted in the Sicilian manner, with lemons tucked inside and scattered beneath, oregano perfuming the skin, the juices running clear and golden. This is not about sauce. This is about restraint.