Quick Italian meat stew
Italian-style meat is basically pork in a tomato sauce with vegetables. That's probably how I would put it in a nutshell. By meat I mean any kind of meat, because you don´t need to use pork. I personally wanted to make this recipe with chicken primarily, but I just couldn't find it. Not even turkey. That's why this recipe features pork. If you use chicken, you will only have the meal ready faster. Therefore, use any meat you want.
As for the vegetables, you can also vary them if you are not a fan of zucchini or celery. However, I liked this combination quite a bit, and above all, I had most of the things just in the fridge. A plus is also the quick preparation of this meal and the fact that it´s great as a lunch for work, since stews are always best reheated and don't lose that much quality after a day or two. Especially compared to baked potatoes or steak, which are stars just right after coming out from the stove :D.
PREPARATION: approx. 30 minutes
SERVINGS: 5 - 6 servings
Italian meat stew
INGREDIENTS:
- 1,1 kg cubed pork (lean)
- 1,5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1,5 tsp herbes de provence
- 1 middle-sized yellow onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 140 g tomato paste
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 100 ml dry white wine
- 150 ml water
- 2 stalks of celery
- 3 carrots
- 1 smaller zucchini
- half red bell pepper
- *if you crave more proteins, add canned chickpea at the end (when the meal is fully cooked).
Instructions:
- First of all, prep the meat and marinate it in a spice mixture consisting of: 1.5 tsp herbes de provence, 1 tsp ground cumin, 0.5 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp ground sweet paprika and 1.5 tsp salt.
- Cut 1 onion into small cubes and saute in about 1 teaspoon of olive oil until golden.
- While the onions are being made and the meat is marinating, chop your vegetables – 2 stalks of celery, 3 carrots, half red bell pepper and 1 small zucchini. Your meal will then be made according to the size of the vegetables, so e.g. I personally cut the carrots into smaller rings and and then into halves so they are ready quicker.
- When the onion is ready, throw in the meat and roast from all sides.
- Then add 2 crushed garlic cloves, stir a few times so that the garlic releases its taste, and then you can add 140 g of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, 100 ml of dry white wine and 150 ml of water.
- Now, it depends on the meat - since I had pork, I first cooked the meat in this tomato mixture for about 5 minutes before adding the vegetables and then I just kept cooking until everything was soft.
- If you are using chicken, add the vegetables right away and feel free to cut them into smaller pieces than I did, because the chicken breasts are ready in just few minutes. And since you roasted the meat beforehand, the vegetables would take unnecessarily longer to cook and the meat would be too dry.
- My pork cubes were a bit larger, so I cooked them first alone for about 5 minutes in the sauce and then I left them cooking some more (for about 15 minutes) with the vegetables as well. Then, when everything is soft, you're done and you can serve the pork with rice or like me, with couscous.
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