Pollo alla cacciatora

Pollo alla cacciatora is an Italian dish of chicken pieces braised slowly in a sauce of tomato, onion, herbs and wine. It is a home dish that appears on trattoria menus across Italy.

What it really is

Chicken pieces, bone-in and usually with skin, are browned in olive oil, then removed. Onion, sometimes with garlic, is softened in the same pan and the chicken is returned with white wine, which is reduced, followed by chopped or crushed tomatoes. Rosemary, sage or bay and sometimes a little chilli are added, and the dish is covered and simmered until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened. Some versions add olives, capers, mushrooms or peppers.

The name means "hunter's style" and refers to the cooking method rather than a fixed set of ingredients, so recipes differ by region and by household. Compared with a stew, the chicken is cooked in relatively little liquid and the sauce is a short, concentrated tomato-and-wine sauce. It is not the same as chicken Marengo, which is a French dish, and not a dish cooked with cream.

How it's served

• Served hot as a second course, with the chicken and sauce on the same plate
• Often eaten with polenta, which soaks up the sauce, or with crusty bread
• Commonly accompanied by roasted or sautéed potatoes in some regions
• Served with the braising juices spooned over the pieces, not as a separate sauce

How to write it on the menu

• Write as Pollo alla cacciatora, or Chicken cacciatora, and name the main components: chicken, tomato, white wine, onion and herbs
• State any olives, capers, mushrooms or peppers that are included, since recipes vary
• Note that the dish contains wine, which is a sulphite source, and that the sauce is wheat-free unless flour is used to thicken it
• Specify bone-in or boneless chicken, as the cooking time and texture differ