Chicken-catch-a-Leslie Leslie Menefi eld

Chicken catch-a-Leslie

Submitted by: Leslie Menefi eld, Specialist Clerk II Agency Administration - Program Integrity Division

Chicken-catch-a-Leslie is my modern spin-off of the dish, Chicken Cacciatore. In Italian, “alla cacciatora” refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style” using onions, garlic, and tomatoes. This really is an inexpensive dinner, yet it has become one my family’s favorites. This recipe got its name—Chicken-catch-a-Leslie—because it’s a dish with a secret ingredient…until now!

Leslie’s grandkids are ready to dig in!

INGREDIENTS

2 to 3 pounds of chicken

Use whichever chicken pieces you like; legs and thighs, or just thighs, chicken breast, or even the whole chicken. I prefer thighs because there is only one bone to remove. 2 to 3 cups sliced sausage

I like to use Polish kielbasa, hot links, or any kind of spicy sausages. Basically, I look for whatever sausage is on sale—but it needs to have a little kick to it.

1 bottle of Prego Spaghetti Sauce, Garden Vegetable Style

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Chicken preparation

The main ingredient is chicken with braised sausage. When you braise the sausage in your broth, it is going to bring out its fl avor of the base ingredients of cacciatore. The chicken can be cooked ahead of time. Put the chicken in a pot with a can of chicken broth, some slices of onion, and cloves of garlic. I use the crockpot so it’s ready to go when I get home. If you don’t have a crockpot, boil the chicken and seasoning in a pot for 40 minutes. If you don’t have a can of chicken stock, water will work too. Take the chicken and the broth out of the pot and set aside.

Step 2: The sausage

Slice the sausages in 1/4 - 1/2 inch discs. Braise in about 1 cup of the chicken broth. Cook the sausages until you can see that you are getting the juices out and infusing into the chicken broth.

Step 3: Combining the ingredients

Combine the sausage and chicken with the fi nal ingredient...a jar of spaghetti sauce. The best one to use is Prego Spaghetti Sauce with whole veggies. However, you can use any marinara sauce if the store doesn’t carry Prego. Again, buy what’s on sale in the spaghetti sauce aisle, but stick with garlic, onions, and basil. Spicy is good, but no cheeses. Once you have combined these ingredients, let the dish simmer at low temperature for 10-15 minutes. Season to taste. We like to add some hot sauce when serving. The cook has permission to spice it up with some hot sauce or salsa, but it all depends on what sausage you use and how spicy you like it. Serve this dish over rice.

PRO TIP: This is such a versatile recipe. The next day, you can put the rice inside the dish, add the remaining chicken broth, and serve this as spiced tomato and rice soup.