This Sunday we have a bunch of people coming to my place to paint the walls so I've decided to make something for lunch. The dish was decided but I can't put my finger on the name, I knew it was something original but the name just couldn't ring any bells. So today I had the opportunity to head down to Page One at Vivocity and started flipping through recipe books, feeling lucky. Fair enough I did find what I was looking for and took down notes. Went to LJS had something to bite and wrote down the recipe. So here goes, The first recipe for the Ministry!
Chicken Cacciatora with Pan-Seared Gnocchi(serves 12)
Gnocchi
Gnocchis are potato-based pastas, they look like yellow quail eggs with line on one side, some recipes have parmesan cheese in it but it's actually ok to not include it and just use a pinch of salt instead. So here is my rendition of Gnocchis. Enjoy!!
Chicken Cacciatora with Pan-Seared Gnocchi(serves 12)
Gnocchi
Gnocchis are potato-based pastas, they look like yellow quail eggs with line on one side, some recipes have parmesan cheese in it but it's actually ok to not include it and just use a pinch of salt instead. So here is my rendition of Gnocchis. Enjoy!!2.5kg Russet Potatoes(skinned & cut into chunks)
2 Cups Plain Flour
1 Large Egg
1/2 cup Olive Oil
Salt
Boil the potatoes till soft, drain them and mash them up in a bowl. Make a well in the centre of the mashed spuds and dust flour on over the potatoes. In the well, add egg and a pinch of salt and start incorporating all the ingredients together until you get a dough-like mixture. Roll out the dough into round strips, cut out the strips of dough into thumb-size chunks( If your thumb is too fat like mine you can consider the first section of your index finger.) Using a fork, make indentations on each dough.( don't ask me why but it's the pasta's trademark.) Boil up a pot of salted water and dumb the gnocchis in, you can tell it's done when they are all floating on the surface, takes about 2-3 minutes. Strained the gnocchis and shock them in cold water. Drizzle olive oil on them and dump them in a zip-lock bag. Keep bag chill till further use.
Chicken Cacciatora
Chicken cacciatora is basically chicken stew, having canned tomatoes is actually optional, but most importantly it must have olives if not it'll just be chicken stew and not Cacciatora. For this dish I used chicken thigh because it's actually easier to bite and since it's a dark meat, it has more flavour. Other alternatives u can use are like feathered game like pigeons or partridges, provided you can find them.
2 Cups Plain Flour
1 Large Egg
1/2 cup Olive Oil
Salt
Boil the potatoes till soft, drain them and mash them up in a bowl. Make a well in the centre of the mashed spuds and dust flour on over the potatoes. In the well, add egg and a pinch of salt and start incorporating all the ingredients together until you get a dough-like mixture. Roll out the dough into round strips, cut out the strips of dough into thumb-size chunks( If your thumb is too fat like mine you can consider the first section of your index finger.) Using a fork, make indentations on each dough.( don't ask me why but it's the pasta's trademark.) Boil up a pot of salted water and dumb the gnocchis in, you can tell it's done when they are all floating on the surface, takes about 2-3 minutes. Strained the gnocchis and shock them in cold water. Drizzle olive oil on them and dump them in a zip-lock bag. Keep bag chill till further use.
Chicken Cacciatora
Chicken cacciatora is basically chicken stew, having canned tomatoes is actually optional, but most importantly it must have olives if not it'll just be chicken stew and not Cacciatora. For this dish I used chicken thigh because it's actually easier to bite and since it's a dark meat, it has more flavour. Other alternatives u can use are like feathered game like pigeons or partridges, provided you can find them.1.5kg Chicken thighs, trimmed and de-boned
3 cans Chopped tomatoes
150gm Pitted black/green olives (crushed)
40gm Chopped garlic
1 tbsp Fresh oregano
1 tbsp Mixed herbs
1-2 pcs Bay leaves
1 Cup Red wine(preferably Pinot)
Olive Oil
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
Chopped parsley
Season the thighs with salt & pepper, and brown them in a pot wth olive oil. Once browned, remove and sweat chopped garlic and mixed herbs in the same pot till their aromas come out. Before the the garlic and herbs burns, bring the chicken back into the pot together with the olives & bay leaves, de-glaze the pot with red wine. once the wine has reduced a little( meaning most of the alcohol has been cooked off.) Add in the chopped tomatoes and bring the whole thing to boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes on very low heat. The stew should reduce and thicken a bit 30 mins, season to taste and cover with a lid and turn off the gas.
How to serve....
Brown some gnocchi in a pan with olive oil, place them on the centre of a plate. Dig for a piece of chicken in the Cacciatora and place it on top, ladle the sauce on top of the chicken and finally, garnish by sprinkling some parmesan and chpped parsley.
Hope u guys will give it a shot one of these days. Hey V-day's coming round the corner maybe a romantic dinner for 2 might spice things up a little huh??
Peace Out!!
Chris
3 cans Chopped tomatoes
150gm Pitted black/green olives (crushed)
40gm Chopped garlic
1 tbsp Fresh oregano
1 tbsp Mixed herbs
1-2 pcs Bay leaves
1 Cup Red wine(preferably Pinot)
Olive Oil
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
Chopped parsley
Season the thighs with salt & pepper, and brown them in a pot wth olive oil. Once browned, remove and sweat chopped garlic and mixed herbs in the same pot till their aromas come out. Before the the garlic and herbs burns, bring the chicken back into the pot together with the olives & bay leaves, de-glaze the pot with red wine. once the wine has reduced a little( meaning most of the alcohol has been cooked off.) Add in the chopped tomatoes and bring the whole thing to boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes on very low heat. The stew should reduce and thicken a bit 30 mins, season to taste and cover with a lid and turn off the gas.
How to serve....
Brown some gnocchi in a pan with olive oil, place them on the centre of a plate. Dig for a piece of chicken in the Cacciatora and place it on top, ladle the sauce on top of the chicken and finally, garnish by sprinkling some parmesan and chpped parsley.
Hope u guys will give it a shot one of these days. Hey V-day's coming round the corner maybe a romantic dinner for 2 might spice things up a little huh??
Peace Out!!
Chris
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