Chicken Cacciatore with Washington Merlot Wine Pairing
This vegetable-heavy, braised Chicken Cacciatore is delicious over pasta, rice, or even mashed potatoes.
Chicken Cacciatore
Cacciatore means 'hunter' in Italian. The term "cacciatore" is used to refer to a dish that is cooked 'hunter style' meaning that meat is braised in tomatoes, onions, peppers, and herbs. The long, slow simmer of the braise yields tender, flavorful chicken.
It's no wonder this hearty dish was a hunter's favorite!
We've pumped up the veggies in this braised Chicken Cacciatore, making a hearty and healthy dish that is delicious over pasta, rice, or even mashed potatoes.
And, it goes great with a glass of Merlot.
Chicken Cacciatore Wine Pairing
For today's pairing, we picked up a Washington State Merlot called The Velvet Devil, produced by Charles Smith Wines. We found the wine to be incredibly smooth and fruity with a light acidity. The wine is a blend of mostly Merlot with just a hint of Cabernet Sauvignon, which gives it a bit of tannin on the front end that is nicely smoothed over by the acidity of the Merlot.
Generally speaking, Merlot is near the middle of the red wine spectrum, making it an incredibly versatile wine for pairing with food. Typically you would pair a Merlot with grilled meats, beef, and flavorful, hard cheeses. However, Merlot also pairs well with the tomatoes in classic Italian dishes and the savory flavors of roasted chicken and mushrooms.
The acidic finish in The Velvet Devil Merlot made us think of Italian food, and a dish we hadn't had in a while suddenly came to mind: Chicken Cacciatore.
Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 1 ½ teaspoon oil or unsalted butter, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ lbs chicken breast
- 2 onions, quartered and sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 green peppers, quartered and sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ c medium bodied red wine (Merlot works well)
- 4 tomatoes, diced
Instructions
- In a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, heat ½ teaspoon oil. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place them in the hot skillet. Sear the breasts on all sides over high heat, 1-2 minutes per side, until golden. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in the skillet and add onions and garlic. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté the onions 3-5 minutes, until golden. Add green peppers and continue to sauté 2-3 minutes, until the peppers begin to soften.
- Add the bay leaf and thyme to the vegetable mixture.
- Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any bits that are stuck to the pan.
- Add the diced tomatoes with any of their juices.
- Place the chicken back into the pan. Cover and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for 1 hour.
- Serve the Cacciatore over pasta, rice or potatoes.
Nutrition
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David of Cooking Chat started this event in June of 2014, and every month since then this group of wine and food lovers have had a great time! For more background, check out the original post announcing Wine Pairing Weekend. You can see the full list of past and upcoming #winePW events here.
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Sarah, Looks like a wonderful pairing with your chicken cacciatore! I'm a big fan of Washington wines, so I'll be happy to see where you go next. We have especially enjoyed small wineries in the Lyle, WA area, like Memaloose and Domaine Pouillon. Highly recommended!
We'll have to check those out. Thanks for the recommendations!
Terrific wine choice! Partied with Charles at his winery, ooh...what a night. More energy than I had. Glad you are exploring outside of home. So many wonderful wines. I like this recipe and will try at home. Need to change up things plus I've never made Chicken Cacciatore. Cheers!
Sounds like a fun night! We are looking forward to trying more of their wines. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hard to go wrong with a Washington Merlot. Dish looks great.
I have been wanting to try this wine so I was happy to read your review! Looks like a tasty pairing with the chicken!
We quite enjoyed it. Thanks!
Washington has so many great wines, and Merlot often ends up being an underrated wine thanks to the movie Sideways. This sounds like a great pairing, and the chicken-cacciatore is beautiful.
Happy New Year!
It's too bad Merlot got a bad name. Hopefully that will change soon!
I've a had a few wines from Charles Smith (though I haven't tried the Merlot) and I've alway really enjoyed them. I can totally see it working with Chicken Cacciatore. Our wine tasting club will be doing a blind tasting of Merlot next week. I bet a wine like the Velvet Devil would fare well!
What a fun idea! I'd love to hear how the tasting goes!
What a great looking dish, Sarah! Can't wait to give it a try. Thanks for sharing with #winePW
I really enjoy Washington wines, especially Rieslings. I've tried a white from Charles Smith and really liked it. I bet the Merlot is delicious too.
We'll put a Washington Riesling on our list to check out next!
I normally pair Chicken Cacciatore with a Chianti but I think I will try a Merlot next time.