(ADAPTED FROM MATTY MATHESON’S – A COOKBOOK

Olive oil
8 chicken legs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (155 g) Cerignola olives, pitted
1 Vidalia onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
8 cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 cup (240 ml) chicken stock
4 cups (960 ml) Sunday Gravy (this page) without the meat
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried red chile flakes
1 pound (455 g) linguini pasta
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In a Dutch oven, pour ½ inch (12 mm) of oil and set over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the pot. You should fit three to four legs; don’t overcrowd the pot. Sear until the chicken is golden brown; remove, set aside on a plate, and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Place the olives, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic in the pot; cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and reduce the liquid by half, about Olive oil

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In a Dutch oven, pour ½ inch (12 mm) of oil and set over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the pot. You should fit three to four legs; don’t overcrowd the pot. Sear until the chicken is golden brown; remove, set aside on a plate, and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Place the olives, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic in the pot; cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and reduce the liquid by half, about 15 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pot and cover with the gravy. Add the oregano and chile flakes. Bring to a slow boil, then turn down the heat to low; simmer 30 minutes.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta as the label directs. This pasta cooks very quickly—to ensure you get al dente noodles, do not walk away once you drop your noodles. Drain the water. Place all the noodles back into the pot. Remove two chicken legs from the pot. Shred the meat and toss into the noodles. Divide the noodles onto 6 plates and top each plate with one chicken leg. Ladle sauce on top. Boom—you’ve got a beautiful chicken cacciatore.

NOTES: I usually don’t care for a cacciatore made with tomatoes. I prefer a “white cacciatore”. But really enjoyed this recipe.

NOTE: the recipe calls for a red pepper. I also do not like red bell peppers in a pasta sauce so I eliminated the pepper.

My changes: I used three chicken legs with thighs, browned in olive oil. Removed from the pan and added the olives and the mushrooms. Cooked until mushrooms started to brown and added two chopped shallots, and two minced garlic cloves. Sauted for a minute or two and then added a cup of chicken broth. Simmered until the broth was reduced by half and then added a can of plum tomatoes ((28oz can). I pureed the tomatoes in the can before adding them to the pan (I use an immersion blender), seasoned with oregano, salt and pepper and some chili flakes. Placed the chicken legs back in the pan, covered and simmered until the chicken was tender.