When I ran across chicken thighs on sale the other day,  I bought a big pack, knowing I could freeze what I didn’t use for my delicious chicken cacciatore. You can make this with a variety of chicken pieces, but what I love about just using thighs is that they have great flavor and are usually uniform in shape and size, making them cook more evenly.

Brad loved this, but did add some heat to his serving with one of his favorite hot sauces. He gave this dish a solid A and put it on our favorite comfort food list, great year-round!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup (or more) all-purpose flour for dredging
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs, fat removed
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped small
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped small
• 8 oz. sliced baby bella mushrooms
• ½ large sweet onion, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced (not pictured, it was hanging with the wine)
• 3 to 4 large garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes, chopped with liquid
• ¼ cup chicken broth (more if needed)
• 1/3 cup good red wine (not pictured, it was hanging with the celery)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• ¼ cup fresh chopped basil
• Grated Parmesan for garnish (optional)
• Hot sauce to taste (optional)

Preparation

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil medium-high in a large skillet. Meanwhile, season flour with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken in the mixture.

Brown chicken on all sides and transfer to a plate.

Clean the skillet with a paper towel (doesn’t have to be perfect), heat the remaining oil and sauté the peppers, onion, celery and garlic until tender, 3 or 4 minutes.

Add the baby bellas and cook for a few minutes. Now is a good time to see if you need to add any additional salt and pepper.

Mix in the tomatoes, broth, wine and oregano, and bring the sauce to a boil.

Add the chicken, reduce heat and simmer on low heat until the chicken reaches 165 degrees (about 30 minutes, give or take.)

Top with the fresh basil just before serving.

Add grated parmesan cheese and/or hot sauce (both are optional) and enjoy over noodles, rice or just by itself!

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!

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