(It’s a great base for Arroz con Pollo and/or Chicken Empanadas)
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper; small dice
- 1 green bell pepper; small dice
- 2-3 carrots, depending upon size; small dice
- 1 large or two small yellow onions; small dice
- 2 red chilies, or more if you like a lot of heat; small dice
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 8 chicken thighs, skin on – if you can find them boneless, it will save a step, if not, it’s okay.
- ¼ cup green olives stuffed with pimentos, sliced
- ½ cup capers
- 1 small can or jar of tomato paste
- 32 oz chicken stock (low sodium or homemade)
- ½ cup of white wine
- 1 cup AP flour
- 2 Tbsp Hungarian Paprika
- 2 Tbsp sea salt
- 1 Tsp cracked black pepper
- several sprigs of thyme
- several sprigs of rosemary
- nonstick cooking spray
- Before I make this dish, I usually assemble everything I need. I first spray the inside of the crockpot with a non-stick cooking spray. I like to use Spectrum organic canola oil spray.
- I take large glass bowl and combine my flour, paprika, salt and black pepper. I mix it with a fork and set it aside.
- I cut up my peppers, onions, carrots and garlic and put them into the bottom of the crockpot.
- I tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen twine and put it into the crockpot.
- Now, I will zest the lemon directly over the vegetables, and then juice it and add the juice to the pot.
- At this point, I add my capers and my sliced olives to the crockpot.
- Now, I wash and thoroughly dry the chicken thighs, patting them down with a paper towel. I roll them in my flour mixture, making sure that all exposed meat is covered, and add each piece to the crockpot.
- I sometimes heat a skillet and sear the chicken first on high heat before adding them to the crockpot. This helps to add and build the flavor of the dish, but if I am in a hurry, or just don’t feel like washing more dishes, I will skip this step.
- Once the chicken is sitting on top of the vegetables, I paint the tomato paste on top of the chicken with a spatula.
- Finally, I add all my liquids to the crockpot (wine and stock) and set it on Low for 10 hours.
I can tell it’s done when the chicken completely falls apart by touching it with a wooden spoon. At this point I put it into storage containers and refrigerate it for a day. You can eat it right from the crockpot, but I find it needs that extra 24 hours in the fridge to really develop it’s flavors.
If you choose to use it as a filling for empanadas - be forewarned - 1/2 the batch will be gone before you walk away from the stove. They are super yummy.