Puchero Canario - a very popular meat and vegetable stew

Puchero Canario is a very popular dish amongst locals in Tenerife. Essentially a stew containing meat, vegetables and, often, anything else the chef cares to throw in!

Photo: jtoledo

With something like this, the recipe will vary slightly from place to place, but, in essence, it remains the same - a hearty meal to satisfy even the hungriest diner.

Ingredients

• 1kg of beef
• a quarter of a chicken
• 1 beef bone
• 125g of streaky bacon
• 125g of chorizo
• 250g of chickpeas
• 1 peeled onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 250g of cabbage
• 200g of pumpkin
• 2 peeled sweet potatoes
• 6 medium-sized potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 150g of green beans
• 2 small courgettes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 spoonfuls of olive oil
• 3 litres of water
• 1 spoonful of paprika
• some saffron strands (or use turmeric)
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• salt

Have you got all that? I said it contained all sorts of stuff!

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas overnight.

When ready to make the dish, peel the carrots, then chop them, along with the tomatoes, cabbage, courgettes and pumpkin.

Method

!You need a mortar and pestle for this!

Heat the water in a large pot and, when boiling, add the chickpeas, with the meat, the bone, the tomatoes, onion and salt.

Bring back to a simmer and allow to cook for about one hour.

Strain off the stock and lay the meat and chickpeas aside.

Place the garlic, pepper and paprika into the mortar and crush thoroughly, eventually mixing in the oil to make a paste.

Heat up the stock again and add the vegetables (not the potatoes), the chorizo, the bacon and the paste from the mortar, cooking for about 20 minutes.

Finally, add the sweet potatoes, the potatoes and saffron (or turmeric), cooking for a further 30 minutes.

The last thing you do - dish it up!

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