This is a quick and easy dish to make out of leftover meat from a roasted chicken or from chicken breasts, wings, or legs. It is perfect for these wet chilly fall days and makes good use of the last of the tomatoes. You can use whatever amount or combination of onions, leeks, and garlic is available and suits you, the values below are rough suggestions. You can also add other things like mushrooms or diced hot peppers, sautéing them with the aromatics. The leftovers are great as the sauce mellows and the flavors mix with time.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup leeks or onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 bell pepper
- 5-8 tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- Approx 1 lb chicken (breasts, wings, legs, or cooked pieces)
- 1/3 cup oil or fat
- salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp red chili flakes
- 3 tsp chili powder
Preparation
Chop up onions or leeks, garlic, and pepper.
Pour about half the oil into a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add the onions/leeks, garlic, and peppers (and any additions, such as mushrooms) and stir until onions/leeks are beginning to become translucent.
Core and chunk tomatoes, retaining as much juice as possible. Add tomatoes, spices, and bay leaves to frying pan and simmer, stirring often, until tomatoes are soft and sauce begins to thicken, at least 10 minutes.
While the tomatoes cook, heat the remaining oil or fat in another frying pan over medium heat. If you are using pieces of chicken that are already cooked, you are simply reheating and browning them so cut them up if desired, sprinkle them with salt and cook them until browned. If you are starting from raw chicken, sprinkle the meat with salt and pan fry it, turning a few times. Stop when the chicken is not quite cooked through (about 10 minutes), remove from the pan and, if using breasts, slice them up.
Add the chicken to the tomato sauce and stir. Cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add additional salt and spices to taste.