Pollo alla Cacciatora servito con erbe e parmigiano polenta, hunters chicken served with a herb and parmesan polenta
Pollo alla Cacciatori (Hunter’s Chicken) is found across Northern Italy, with many variations. My version uses meaty bone-in chicken thighs, drumsticks and is full of onions, olives, garlic and tomatoes.
Ingredients
Serves 4
4 x free range chicken thighs and 4 x drumsticks skin on
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
8 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 large onion
6 cloves garlic, peeled (3crushed, 3sliced)
500 ml red wine
flour, for dusting
extra virgin olive oil
6 anchovy fillets
1 tbsp capers
I handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
1 handful green or black olives, stoned
1 x 400 g good-quality tinned plum tomatoes.
Method
1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper and put them into a bowl. Add the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs and the crushed cloves of garlic and cover with the wine. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight in the fridge.
2. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade, and pat dry with kitchen paper.
3. Dust the chicken pieces with flour and shake off any excess. Heat an ovenproof pan, add a splash of olive oil, fry the chicken pieces until browned lightly all over and put to one side.
4. Place the pan back on the heat and add the sliced garlic and onions. Fry gently until golden brown, then add the anchovies, olives, capers, tomatoes (broken up with a wooden spoon) and the chicken pieces with their reserved marinade. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours.
When cooked taste and add the chopped parsley and little salt and pepper if necessary, and serve with a salad, pasta, some cannellini beans or as I do with creamy herb and parmesan polenta , garnish with chopped parsley
Polenta 
An Italian storecupboard staple, polenta has its roots in the peasant cuisine of northern Italy. Where once it was just a humble peasant food, polenta has emerged as a versatile, fine-dining-style. It’s made by grinding corn into flour, or meal. It has a rich yellow, yolk-like colour, and has a slightly sweet flavourPolenta can be cooked to be creamy and thick, or allowed to set and then sliced. Serve it instead of pasta, rice or potatoes. Use in place of breadcrumbs to coat chicken or fish when frying.
Ingredients
Serves 4
150ml milk
½ tsp salt
150g coarse cornmeal
50g butter
25g grated parmesan (optional)
1tsp chopped flat leaf parsley
1. Put the milk in a large, heavy-based pan along with 600ml water and the salt, and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, measure out the cornmeal and put it near the hob.
2. When the pan comes to the boil, add the cornmeal, letting it run in thin streams through your fingers, whisking continuously. Stir for a minute or two until it thickens.
3. Turn the heat right down and stir well, roughly every 4-5 minutes to prevent it sticking, for about 35-45 minutes, until the polenta begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Stir in the butter, parsley and cheese, if using, then put on a hot serving dish.
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