Polla alla Cacciatora

Polla alla whata?  Yeah, sorry...  I know the name sounds kind of weird.  Really this is like a variation on chicken cacciatore.

So I was getting my usual Saturday morning foodie fix and I watched one of the chefs prepare this.  She mentioned how this was an easy weeknight supper... yeah, yeah, I've heard that one before.  But then I really looked at her ingredients and how she was putting it all together.  Dude, this seriously is a weeknight wonder meal!  Fancy-sounding enough for company, simple, comforting, and filling enough to be just for the family, and comes together in about 30 minutes.  Wahoo!!!

Polla alla Cacciatora
Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson

4-5 strips of bacon
1 tsp (ish) fresh rosemary, finely chopped
5-6 green onions
1 lb chicken thighs
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp sugar
1 (14.5oz) can Great Northern white beans (or cannellini beans, or whatever white bean you like)

1.  Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Using kitchen shears, snip bacon into pan.  Let cook a few minutes and start to crisp up a bit.

Oh fresh rosemary....I love you

2.  Also using kitchen shears, snip bits of green onion into pan with the onion.  Add rosemary.  Let cook a few more minutes and try to not stick your nose into the pan too far as you inhale the glorious aroma of fresh rosemary being cooked in bacon fat.

Seriously, the smell of this concoction cooking together is HEAVENLY!

3.  As the bacon, onion and rosemary cook, cut chicken thighs into quarters.  Add to pan with the celery salt and let brown a couple minutes.  Pour in white wine and let that come up to a simmer before adding the tomatoes, bay leaves, and sugar.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes.

4.  Drain and rinse the canning juices off the white beans.  Stir into the chicken mixture and let heat through before serving.

Couple of things to make note of: I know I wasn't very exact on the time to cook the bacon because I think it's going to vary depending on how hot your skillet is.  You want to make sure though that by the time you start adding liquid to the pan that the bacon is good and crispy.  The liquids will soften the bacon no matter what so any "lightly done" bacon will seem almost raw in the finished dish.  If you want to keep that bacon crispy, I'd suggest cooking the bacon on it's own and them removing it to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.  Cook the onions and rosemary in the bacon fat and then add the bacon back in just before you serve.

I like to eat this over rice to help soak up some of those lovely tomato/wine/bacon juices.  I think you could also eat this in a bowl with some crusty bread.  Despite some of the more intensely flavored ingredients (hello bacon, rosemary...), the resulting flavor of this dish is pretty mild in my opinion.  Between the juicy chicken, hearty beans, and wonderfully rich tomato sauce, this is just the kind of thing I'm looking for at the end of a long day.