Easy Crockpot Chicken Ciaccatore

A couple of weeks ago I was tired of cooking and looking something super easy and what I had was a package of a dozen chicken thighs, a part of the chicken I'm not real nuts about. I was tired of baking and frying them. I wanted something really good, but really easy. And voila: This crockpot version was born. I adapted a few different recipes I found to come up with this yummy version.

Super Easy Crockpot Chicken Ciaccatore

Serves 4 -5 adults

-10 - 12 chicken thighs, skin removed

-1/2 tsp. salt, pepper to taste

-1 medium onion, finely chopped

-1 green or red pepper, chopped

-1 jar smooth spaghetti sauce with mushrooms

-1 tsp. oregano

-1 can pitted black olives, sliced each olive in half across the middle

-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Give the crockpot a light coat of olive oil. After removing the skin from the chicken thighs, place in crockpot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir.

Add chopped onion and chopped red pepper on top of the chicken. Pour over the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with oregano. Top with block olives. Do not stir. Cover and cook on high, for 3 1/2 hours.

Remove cover and skim any fat that rose to the surface. Add parmesan cheese. Stir gently. Serve over your favorite pasta such as spaghetti, linguine, rotini, penne or fussili. I tend to prefer the rotini/penne/fussili type pastas as their shape helps to hold all that wonderful sauce.

But my absolute favorite way to serve it is over this:

Whole Wheat Gemelli

The texture is just wonderful, a really al dente type of texture and it goes perfectly with the sauce. Just look at all those twisty ridges that will grab ahold of the delicious sauce. I also served a brocolli/cauliflower/carrot mix sprinkled with parmesan instead of salt which complemented the catiatorre perfectly.

For more great slow cooker ideas join our hostess Sandra at Diary of A Stay at Home Mom