You brown chicken until the skin is deep gold, then simmer it with tomato, wine, rosemary, and whatever mushrooms the walk provided. The sauce should be rusty and low, clinging to the bird. Bread or polenta waits to take it up — that is not optional, and you will want it.
Hunter's style — alla cacciatora — is claimed by half the boot: Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, each with a local certainty. Some versions are white, with vinegar and no tomato. This one is central, red, and honest about the mushrooms.
Brown the bird thoroughly or the stew will taste boiled. Uncover at the end to thicken. It is better after a rest, like most things that spent time in a pot.
Method
- 01
Season the jointed chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan and brown the pieces thoroughly on all sides — you want a deep gold crust, not a pale tan. If you skip this, the stew will taste boiled, and there is no fixing that later. Work in batches if you must, and set the browned chicken aside.
- 02
In the same pan, soften the sliced onion and the garlic until they are sweet and pale. Add the mushrooms and let them give up their water and take on a little color. Pour in the wine and let it bubble, then add the tomatoes and the rosemary sprigs. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you go; all that browned chicken fat is your sauce.
- 03
Nestle the chicken back into the pan, turning the pieces so they are coated in that rusty sauce. Cover and simmer gently until the meat is tender, thirty-five to forty minutes. The sauce should be low and bubbling, not at a furious boil. A thigh will tell you when it's done — the meat will pull from the bone with almost no argument.
- 04
Uncover the pan for the last few minutes so the sauce can thicken and turn rusty and low. Taste for salt and pepper; the tomatoes will have sweetened and the rosemary will have gone through everything. Serve with bread or polenta to take up the sauce — that is not optional. It is even better after a rest, like most things that spent time in a pot.
