9 - CHICKEN CHILINDRON (POLLO AL CHILINDRON)

This is a very typical chicken stew from the northeastern part of Spain (Aragon, Navarra, Basque Country). Its sauce is called  "Chilindron" making reference to its main ingredient that is Red Pepper. This recipe is suitable for poultry and tender meats. 

The composition of chilindrón sauce is made from tomatoes, red peppers, onion, plenty of garlic and white whine. Generally the meat portions are usually roasted until they are golden and after this operation is added garlic, onions, red peppers, tomatoes and white wine leaving the mixture of meat and vegetables for a while until the meat take soft textures. The reddish sauce making is due to lycopene (natural coloring red) tomato and peppers.

INGREDIENTS for 5 people:

- 12-14 pieces of chicken.

- 2 big red peppers

- 2 tomatoes.

- 6 cloves of garlic chopped

- 1 glass of white wine.

- Flour 

- 1 or 2 teaspoons of salt depending ton taste.

- Olive oil.

STEP 1 -Keep the pieces of chicken ready for seasoning.

STEP 2 - Season the chicken with salt and pepper to the pieces for both sides.

STEP 3 - Flour each piece of chicken so in this way when frying the chicken all its flavor  will keep retained inside.

STEP 4 and 5 - Have to big red peppers ready to be cut into square pieces.

STEP 5 - The peppers are chopped into squares.

STEP 6 - Chop the tomatoes into cubes.

STEP 7 - Chop the onions into cubes.

STEP 8 - Chop the garlics into slices.

STEP 9 - In a pan add olive oil enough just to cover the bottom of the pan and heat the oil.

STEP 10,11 and 12 - Fry the chicken till becomes golden crispy for all the sides.

STEP 11

STEP 12

STEP 13 - Add the garlic...

STEP 14 - ...and stir fry altoghether for about 5 minutes so the garlic flavor spreads.

STEP 15 - Add the onion, mix very well and keep frying altogether for another 5 minutes (if you see that the mixture seems to be getting a bit dry you can add an splash of water whenever is needed).

STEP 16 -  Add the red peppers and mix...

STEP 17 - ...add the tomatoes, mix and keep frying for another 5 minutes.

STEP 18 - Add the glass of white wine and salt, mix very well and allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes...

STEP 19 - ...till the peppers become soft.

STEP 20 - Add a little bit of chopped parsley and the meal is ready to be served.

As you can see on this picture, Chicken chilindrón can be eaten with pasta, in this case stir-fried spaghetti with chopped green olives, chives and parsley.