From my cousin Laura’s kitchen. She is an amazing cook! Thank you again for sharing this with me and my readers.
Garden Harvest Chicken Cacciatore
Recipe and Photo Credit: Laura Behrendt
Size: 9×13 pan or 12x6x4 foil pan or Gallon freezer bag
Servings: 6
This recipe is great for using up excess garden harvest when the zucchini and tomatoes are out of control and you need to use them up. She always feels better when She uses as much of my garden harvest with as little waste as possible. The sauce this makes is more of a tomato broth. It is light and very flavorful. After all, you are using the best ingredients from your garden! She likes to use a combination of ready ripe tomatoes and also ones that are on the very firm side. Using almost ripe or barely ripe tomatoes is beneficial to the ‘sauce’ because tomatoes that are a little less ripe are higher in pectin which is a natural thickener.
pasta or rice
shaved parmesan cheese
Each pan:
8-9 cups of chunked up tomatoes (they don’t ALL have to be totally ripe. Nearly ripe and still firm are just fine too)
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 cups zucchini sliced 1/2 inch
1 carrot sliced or diced
1 tsp. salt
2 lbs chicken browned (I like using chicken breast cubed into meaty chunks about 2 inches thick. But anything you like is fine)
2 Tbs. olive oil
All purpose flour (enough for dusting chicken, about 1/4 cup)
Seasonings:
Note – Mix together and spread on top.
2 Tbs. minced garlic (we like lots)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. of fresh cracked pepper
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
Optional 1/2 tsp of dried red pepper if you want it spicy
Prep Day:
Cut up all veggies as directed above. Layer 1/2 of all of the veggies in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt.
Sprinkle your chicken with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle with a dusting of all purpose flour. Heat olive oil in skillet and brown up your chicken. This is what is going to give your chicken the best flavor so don’t be too tempted to skip this step.
Once you have browned your chicken really well, transfer to foil pan with all the drippings.
Top with the rest of the veggies and the seasonings.
Go ahead and cook it fresh right away, or chill overnight in fridge then transfer to your deep freeze for later. If you are going to freeze this in a foil pan, cover the top with a layer of wax paper or parchment.
Serve Day:
To cook from fresh – 350 for 2 hours covered
From Frozen – Thaw in fridge overnight: 350 for 2-3 hours covered.
Serve with pasta or rice topped with shaved Parmesan.
Northerly Nosh 