Easy Chicken Cacciatore is a variation of the easy pasta technique in which we undercook the pasta, then let it absorb the sauce. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
1 ½ c cooked chicken, diced
1 T Kosher salt
12 oz dry pasta
12 oz marinara sauce
½ c white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T olive oil (optional)
3 garlic cloves, chopped (optional)
½ green pepper, sliced into strips (optional)
½ onion, sliced into strips (optional)
½ c pimento-stuffed olives (optional)
2 T capers (optional)
Cracked red pepper (optional)
Cheese for garnish
Method: fill a medium saucepan with water, bring to the boil, add pasta and salt. Reduce the heat so it doesn’t boil over. Cook until pasta has just changed color from translucent to white—about 5 minutes and well before the “al dente” point. Drain.
While the pasta is cooking, heat up a skillet or saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients. Sauté the optional onions and peppers and/or garlic in the optional olive oil. Add wine and bring to a boil; add chicken, marinara sauce and lemon juice. (If not using the vegetables, you’ll start with just the wine in the skillet.) Add pasta to the sauce and simmer until it has absorbed most of the sauce. Add olives and/or capers if desired. If you like heat, add a bit of cracked red pepper while the sauce is cooking. Serve with grated or shaved parmesan or other hard cheese.
