I hate washing five pots so I try to make one-dish meals using a large
deep frypan. There are a few variations that are my basic standbys. This
is one of them.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

2 or 3 chicken breasts (depending on size)
2 to 4 rashers of bacon
1 or 2 onions
tin crushed tomatoes
tin sweetcorn - DO NOT DRAIN!
3 or 4 carrots (optional), peeled and finely chopped.
pasta
balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine (optional)
chicken or vegetable stock, or plain water
salt and pepper to taste
paprika
extra-virgin olive oil
fresh olives (optional)
mushrooms (optional)
dried herbs
frozen green beans (optional)

Skin the chicken breasts and chop them into pieces. Cut the rind from
the bacon and remove any surplus plain white fat. Chop the bacon.

Cut the onions in half and lay them facedown on the cutting board, then
slice them into thin strips.

Put a generous slosh of olive oil into the pan and add the onions and
bacon. Fry them on high until the onions and bacon brown, then add the
chicken and stir it around until the chicken starts to brown too.

Add the undrained sweetcorn and the tin of tomatoes and carrots.

Now you need to add some liquid to the pan. Use the red wine, and if you
have any chicken or vegetable stock, use that. Otherwise just use plain
water. Add a generous slosh of balsamic vinegar, and season to taste
with salt, pepper and dried herbs. Add about a heaped teaspoon of
paprika and stir it in well. If you are using mushrooms, chop them into
bitesize pieces and add them now too.

There should be room in the pan to add the pasta now. Add about half a
pack of spiral or shell pasta and top the frypan up with liquid until it
nearly reaches the rim. Turn the heat down to low and simmer the mixture
for about fifteen minutes to 20 minutes, testing the pasta frequently
for doneness. As it cooks, the pasta will absorb a lot of the cooking
liquid, and more will boil away. If the pan seems to be getting too dry
and the pasta is not yet cooked, just add more liquid.

When the pasta and carrots are tender, add the olives and beans. Stir
them in well and cook it for about 5 more minutes, then dish.

This dish serves four adults with a generous quantity of leftovers, and
if you don't have a deep-sided frypan you can cook it in a large
saucepan equally well.

--

Karen AKA Kajikit

Nobody outstubborns a cat.

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