Tomato Chicken Stew

This rustic tomato stew/sauce is something else! It is the chorizo that makes all the difference…

This is the kind of stew that you serve with a large loaf of ciabatta from which you simply tear off large chunks and dip into the sauce…endlessly. You get the picture? Just give it a try, trust me.

U need (serves 4)

4 chicken fillets (or turkey, or drumsticks)

100 grams of Spanish chorizo (cut in chucks or slices – whatever you like best)

2 onions, roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

10 Roma tomatoes (Italian plum tomatoes), without skin, cut in cubes

100 ml of dry white wine

2 bay leaves

A handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped

1-2 tablespoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

How to make it

You will need a nice large sauce or stew pan for this one.

Clean the chicken/turkey and season it with salt and pepper (and other herbs/spices if you want to).

Heat up some olive oil in the pan and fry the chicken/turkey all around for about 4 minutes This way the outside closes up and no juices will escape during further cooking and you will end up with deliciously juicy meat!

Take the meat out of the pan and put it aside.

Then fry the chorizo in the same pan for about 3 minutes, add the onion and garlic and fry everything for another 2 minutes or so (don’t forget to stir everything around, so that nothing burns).

Add the peeled and chopped up tomatoes.

*A little tip for peeling tomatoes – pour a generous amount of boiling water over them first and the skin should come off real easily.*

Mix everything around and then add the wine and the bay leaves. Season everything with salt and pepper, close the lid and let it boil very gently for about 10 minutes.

Then add the sugar and the balsamic vinegar. Remember to taste the sauce every time you add a new ingredient and then adjust the amounts. If after adding the sugar it is too sweet, add more balsamic vinegar. If it is too sour, add more sugar. The sugar might even not be necessary at all if you used good quality, ripe tomatoes.

Let the sauce bubble gently for another 15 minutes (no lid, so that all the excess water evaporates).

Now put the chicken/turkey back in the pan, close the lid and let everything simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

Take out the bay leaves and add the chopped up basil leaves and gently mix them through the sauce.

Turn off the heat – you’re done!

Of course you can serves this with rice or pasta, but my suggestion is to serve the meat with a generous amount of sauce on a big plate (soup plate even) with some nice rustic bread and dig in!

Lovely with a glass of red wine…

P.S. Tastes even better the next day!