Chicken Cacciatore Crockpot Version

I love the crockpot for its ability to help me make a nutritious delicious dinner with a minimum of fuss and bother on days when I’m gone all day.

I have had 3 slow cookers.  The original was Marilyn’s and lasted for a couple of decades.  When the ceramic cracked I purchased a medium priced digital version that allowed for auto shutoff.  This lasted a couple of years and the electronic part basically fell off.

My current, pretty red slow cooker is a very basic and cheap cooker.  I specifically chose one with a knob and not digital buttons because there is less that could go wrong.  Then again, I would prefer manual roll down and roll up windows on cars.


I bought it at a bigbox DIY store for not more than 20 bucks.  It works like a dream.  I make soups, stews and steel cut oats in it. 

You can throw all the ingredients in the crockpot in the morning, turn it on and come home to the smell of dinner when you open the door.  If you do it this way, lay the meat on the bottom, next put in the vegetables and finally pour the liquid over everything.  Give it a stir at the end when it’s done.

If you also get bread going in the bread maker, you can time everything so all you have to do is pour a glass of wine and slice the bread. Voila.  Dinner.

There is, however a secret to improving on something that is almost perfect.  This involves doing initial prep work with a skillet and stove.  I’ve given the instructions for the long way, but feel free to chuck it all in, turn it on and leave.

Don’t use chicken breasts.  They will taste like little lumps of wood chips.

Chicken Cacciatore 

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
salt
pepper
1 cup chopped mushrooms
28 oz can tomatoes, chopped
6-12 chicken thighs (skinless, boneless)
1 green bell pepper
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup frozen peas



Put carrots and green peppers into the slow cooker.

I had a turnip, which I peeled, chopped and added. That's the white stuff.

In a skillet, fry the onions and mushrooms in oil  for about 3 minutes, until soft.

Add garlic, spices and chicken and cook until chicken is just nicely browned.

Pour in wine/stock, tomato paste and tomatoes with juice and bring to a boil.

These are tomatoes from my garden, which I froze whole.  When they come out of the freezer, the skin falls off and I give them a quick whirl with my mini processor.  If you use your own tomatoes - you HAVE TO add a couple of tsp sugar to cut the acidity.

Pour the whole shebang into the slow cooker, over the carrots and give it a stir.

Cover and cook at high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.



At the end, throw in the peas and cover while you are boiling the noodles.

Serve over noodles

(or quinoa or rice - or with plain old bread)

As I was preparing this, I noticed I had half a container of sundried tomato pesto in the fridge.   I decided to add this in as well because otherwise I wasn't sure it would keep.   This leads me to believe that you could also add some sun dried tomatoes for extra taste (because the pesto is crazy expensive and I wouldn't have bought it if it had cost more than 99 cents).