I get my food shopping delivered fortnightly on a Thursday night, so last night (Wednesday) was one of those empty fridge sort of dinners. A dinner which instead of being premised on 'hmm, what do I fancy...?' was instead decided on the factor of 'hmm, what can I do with this plus that, minus everything else...?) I had run almost completely out of fresh stuff, no cheese, no eggs, no milk, and so I was in need of a store cupboard solution.
After some digging around I found a pack of chorizo slices at the back of the fridge. I knew there was a pack of 4 chicken breasts in the freezer, and I also I found a red pepper which needed to find a home promptly, unless it were to be destined for chez bin-bag.
So, what to make? I grabbed some recipe books and had a browse around some of my favourite recipe websites. I came across a rather yummy recipe called Smoky Chicken and Bean Stew on www.bbcgoodfood.com and rooted around my cupboards to see if I had the other necessary ingredients. I lacked berlotti beans, but I did have a tin of cannellini beans that would do just as well. Everything else, miraculously, I had in stock!
One other thing to mention before I begin, is that this stew calls for only 15-20 mins of simmering once all the ingredients are in the pan. What could be better for a midweek dinner?
And so, to work!
Smoky Chicken and Bean Stew - scaled to serve 4 and slightly adapted
2 small red or white onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed (I like garlic... a lot...)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chilli powder
1 red pepper, diced
4 chicken breasts (or 8 chicken thighs - for a richer flavour), diced
3/4 pack of chorizo slices, cut into strips
400ml chicken stock
400g tin of berlotti/cannellini/butter beans
Pitta or thick crusty bread, to serve
Heat the olive oil in a big heavy pan (a big casserole is perfect), and fry the onion gently until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and continue to cook until the onions are softened and slightly golden.
Add the chilli, paprika and peppers to the pan, and sizzle for 1-2 minutes before adding the chicken and the chorizo to the pan for a further 2-5 minutes until the chicken is sealed.
Next, add the stock and tomatoes, and bring to a gentle simmer. Then add the beans, and allow the whole pot to continue simmering for 15-20 minutes until nicely thickened.
Wow - could any recipe that quick and simple really be delicious? Surprisingly yes! I usually find "30 minute" recipes bland and insipid, but not this one. The addition of the beans meant that the whole thing had thickened up nicely even after just 15 minutes, and it had acquired a real depth of flavour too.
I made scaled the recipe up to feed 4 so that I could take the leftovers to work (if you want the original recipe to feed 2, follow the link at the bottom of the post), and it was even more delicious the next day.
The only thing I might do differently next time (and there will be a next time), is to add some extra water to the leftovers, to turn the 'stew' into a 'soup'.
The original recipe suggests serving this with rice or pitta, which of course you could, however, I think this really belongs with some thick crusty bread for mopping up those juices. Yum.
Ciao.
Recipe adapted from www.bbcgoodfood.com
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7268/smoky-chicken-and-bean-stew
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