Ah, That Simple Rural Goodness of Umbria: Chicken Cacciatore

Years ago, when Pino and I worked the land here in the hills outside Assisi,  our rural neighbors taught us how to prune our vineyard, harvest our olives, scythe field greens for our rabbits, raise our pigs and turn them into prosciutto, capocollo and salami.   We learned how to  cook up the geese, guinea fowl, ducks and chickens we raised.

On our woodstove.

Chicken cacciatore would often be simmering on the woodstove.

I learned very quickly that the farm women worked as many hours on the land as their husbands did.  And during the day, actually worked far more hours: a husband might be dozing, head down on his folded arms spread out on the table near his espresso cup after lunch…while his wife cleaned up the kitchen and took the table scraps down to the pig stall. As he snored away.

These farm woman neighbors taught me how to cook up the goodness we planted on the land – as well as the animals we raised.   The Umbrian rural cuisine is of course, buonissimo: skilled hands cook up fresh, homegrown ingredients to feed a hungry group. And an Italian one. That’s a critical audience.

Rural cuisine is not only tasty but uncomplicated, of few ingredients, united together simply in little time:  the farm woman logicamente has endless tasks to complete including pigs, rabbits and chickens needing food and clean stalls not to mention all the household tasks and family needs.

Pollo alla cacciatora (chicken cacciatore) is on many a rural table. Rabbit cacciatore, too (same ingredients).

When I used to teach cooking classes in the winter months in the US (1998 – 2017), Umbrian chicken cacciatore was a favorite main course (following a pasta or risotto dish and four antipasti – and flanked with vegetable dishes, preceding the desert).

Here’s the recipe, starting with the ingredients for 8-10 persons

I made it today.

Starting off with the purchase of a free-range organic chicken (only that will do!) and the needed vegetables at our small local alimentari.

I first put into my cart an onion, carrot, celery, and lemon

….and then headed to the meat department for the chicken.  Butchers Paola and Francesco were defty and rapidly slicing meat, filling orders. Co-owner Maurizio joined them.

Paola  knew right away what I would need for pollo alla cacciatora:  an organic, fee-range chicken.  The bright yellow color and lack of fat under the skin were clear signs that I would be taking home a pollo biologico (organic chicken):

Butcher Paola swiftly and precisely (working like a surgeon) cut the chicken for me into small (but not bite-size!) pieces.  And then she burned off feather fuzz:

That chicken and the vegetables and lemon soon joined the other ingredients all set out in our kitchen:  white wine, white wine vinegar and extra-virgin (only!) olive oil, ours. The rosemary and sage were growing behind our farmhouse.

Cooking up the goodness did not take long (as you’ll know if you read the recipe above):

I started the ingredients on our gas stove..but then let the chicken simmer on our woodstove:

At dinner, Pino enjoyed the result:

La cacciatora is one of our favorite dishes.

With rabbit, too

Maybe the next time..?