Quick Chicken Cacciatore

Quick Chicken Cacciatore

So I have a confession to make. Tonight I was going to use a jarred chicken cacciatore simmer sauce. I buy the Chicken Tonight brand and usually just add some mushrooms to that and it tastes fine- great actually. I really do like the taste.

But I after i had put some rice on, cut up the chicken and sliced the mushrooms, I went to the cupboard and NO chicken tonight jar! We left a bag behind at the grocery store and it must have had the jar in it. Now by this stage it's late. It's a night when hubby is out, and after picking up Mr 2 Year Old from daycare i had to search the house for a costume for him to wear tommorrow cause I forgot it was letter dress-up day.  And then I realised my salt and pepper grinders were both out of salt and pepper so I had to re-fill them. And then I had to empty the diswasher, and of course Mr 2 year old was delaying the process by trying to "help" and then wanting to be picked up and wanting a snack etc etc. And so on and so on.

Now I do have a recipe for chicken cacciatore, but it takes ages and has a lot of ingredients. So I thought "you know what- I can do this", and I looked in my pantry and just made it up. And to my surprise, it was easy, quick, and tastes exactly like the jarred version! And that's a good thing, cause as I said earlier I like the jarred version. So maybe I actually don't need to buy the jarred version anymore!

I served it with white rice and green beans.

Time taken?: I reckon without all the fiff faff it's about 30 minutes including chopping.

2 year old friendly?: Actually yes, very much so. I think apart from pasta this is one of his favourite dishes. Of course he wouldn't eat the beans, but at least there are mushrooms in the sauce.

WHAT YOU NEED
500g chicken breast or thigh fillet, cut into cubes
1 700ml jar of passata
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
Some dried thyme and basil (one of the few situations where dried herbs work better than fresh)
3 tablespoons olive oil

METHOD
Heat oil in a large saucepan
Cook the chicken until browned
Add the mushrooms and stir for a minute until mushrooms start to soften a little
Add the passata and a very generous spinkling of the herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
Remove lid from saucepan and cook for a further 5 minutes to reduce sauce slightly.
Serve over some white rice.

This makes about 4 serves, plus a toddler serve (so that means leftovers for lunch!)