The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers (25 page)

I’ve chosen chicken and paprikary tomato here because it takes me straight back to my childhood, when this stew was so much a part of my mother’s repertoire that she often cooked a larger chicken than we could possibly eat just in order to have enough left over to make it. Beef, pork or lamb could be used instead. For any stew, trim the meat well of fat and gristle, tearing it into pieces at least ‘double-bite-sized’ so that they don’t fall apart while cooking.

You can add virtually anything, and you don’t need to be precise with quantities – it all depends on how much meat you have to work with. Use a home-made tomato sauce (see
page 36
) or leave out the tomatoes entirely and replace them with good meat or vegetable stock (see
pages 27
-
30
), or even some leftover soup, blitzed until smooth and thinned with water or stock. The idea is to build something that uses your favourite (available) tastes in combination – often the kind of partnerships listed on
pages 26
-
7
.

Serves 4

a little oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

about 450g cooked chicken, in chunks and/or joints

a bay leaf or bouquet garni

400g can of chopped tomatoes

1 dessertspoon tomato purée

1 rounded teaspoon paprika soured cream or yogurt salt and pepper

In a largish, heavy-based casserole, heat a little oil, then add the onion and garlic and cook gently, covered, for a few minutes, until softened but not coloured.

Add the bay leaf or bouquet garni, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, paprika and salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil, cover and leave to bubble very slowly either on the hob or in a moderate oven (around 180°C/Gas Mark 4).

After 20-30 minutes, when the tomatoes have reduced to a good thickness, remove from the heat, adjust the seasoning and take out the bay leaf or bouquet garni.

Add the chicken (but don’t break chunks of chicken flesh too small or you will get a mush of fibres rather than a chunky stew). Simmer for 3-5 minutes, until thoroughly heated through.

Remove from the heat and stir in a great glug of soured cream or yogurt, swirling it round so that the colours are marbled like hand-made Venetian writing paper.

Serve with steamed rice (half wild and half basmati is really nice here) and a crisp green salad or French beans.

Chicken ‘puttanesca’
Add some chopped anchovies to the onion, then 1-2 teaspoons of capers and/or a teacup of good black olives with the chicken. This is great with rice or potatoes and equally glorious on pasta.

Chickpeas, cannellini beans or butterbeans
The gutsy flavour of reduced tomatoes is always good balanced by the floury starchiness of these pulses. Add a drained 400g can of beans with the tomatoes.

Tomato, chorizo and chickpeas
Chickpeas are astonishingly good with chorizo or sausages and make a great stew with or without the addition of the chicken. Chop the chorizo into generous-sized pieces and cook it slowly with the onion until it starts to break apart and release its red oil – a good 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas with the tomatoes. Or use potatoes instead, peeled and diced to the same size as the chorizo chunks, and cook for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Omit the soured cream or yogurt and serve with a good handful of grated Parmesan.