Chicken cacciatore

Start with some cutup chicken. (That's not chicken that makes jokes all the time, BTW.) You can cut it up yourself or buy it that way. Makes no nevermind. I usually stick with mostly dark meat pieces. They do better in the simmering time, and besides, most of the family prefers dark meat.

I like to lightly flour, salt, and pepper the pieces and then brown them gently in some olive oil down in a 4 or 6 quart Dutch oven. I don't use much olive oil, just enough to keep everything from scorching. I'd say about 3 tablespoons, at the most. Keep the heat at medium.

As you get the pieces browned, take them out and set aside.

Now, the sauce. This is much like the spaghetti sauce I make all the time. First, a carrot, peeled and chunked. Then, a stalk or two of celery, trimmed and chunked. I whiz these up in the food processor and set aside. I peel a couple, three cloves of garlic, depending on how much of that flavor I want. Sometimes, I use some finely diced green pepper if I have it.

I start by tossing the garlic and processed vegetables in the oil and chicken fat that's in the Dutch oven now. There's not more than maybe three tablespoons of fat at that point. I just stir that around until things are a little softer and blended up. Then, season with salt and pepper (to taste), some dried basil and oregano (probably a tablespoon or so of each, to taste), and stir around. I then put in a 6 oz can of tomato paste and stir all that around in the vegetables and oil. Finally, a can of diced tomatoes (optional, really - all water is fine), and about a liter of water to let everything simmer. I usually also add about 1/4 cup of sugar (at the most, depending on the tartness of the tomato products). Stir that to blend everything, then I put in my reserved chicken.

I bring it all to a boil, then turn down to fairly low to simmer. At that point, the chicken needs about 45 minutes, but can use as long as an hour and a quarter to get tender and good.

Tonight, the sauce seemed thin to me. So I removed the chicken and boiled the sauce down hard to where I wanted it.

Boil up some pasta (we use angelhair) and put the chicken and sauce over the top, and you're done.

Serve with a vege, bread, and fresh grated Parm or Romano.