Chicken Cacciatore - Slow Cooked To Italian Perfection

Total Time: 7 hrs 25 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 7 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1/2 cup balsamic salad dressing (bottled)
• 2 lbs chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste, plus more to thicken sauce
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 1 (14 ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained
• 8 ounces fresh button mushrooms, cleaned and halved
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes (rub between fingers to waken flavor)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (rub between fingers to waken flavor)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (rub between fingers to waken flavor)
• red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup large pitted black olives, washed and drained
• 1 cup garbanzo beans, washed and drained
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• parmesan cheese (optional)

Recipe

• 1 pour dressing into a zip-lock plastic bag; add chicken pieces and refrigerate for an hour.
• 2 heat olive oil in a large sauté pan.
• 3 mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together; lightly dredge chicken in the seasoned flour.
• 4 brown the chicken pieces on both sides and transfer to crock pot when done.
• 5 sauté onion until translucent in the olive oil used to brown the chicken; add wine and 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste to deglaze the pan. transfer to crock pot.
• 6 stir together remaining 2 cans of tomato paste and all the ingredients except for the bay leaf, olives, garbanzo beans, capers, and parmesan cheese; spread over chicken in crock pot.
• 7 lay bay leaf on top of chicken; cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours (high: 3 to 4 hours).
• 8 during the last hour of cooking, add the olives, garbanzo beans and capers. if at this time the sauce appears too thin, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to thicken slightly.
• 9 to serve, discard the bay leaf and arrange the chicken over your favorite hot pasta; ladle with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.