Gift-wrapped stew - the essential present for new parents!
When you have a baby and are stuck in a timewarp of sleepless nights, feeding and changing nappies, cooking meals really are the last thing on your mind.
So the nicest present I think you can give a new mum is a home-cooked nutritious meal that they can just reheat and scoff.
My friend Sharron gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last month, the delicious Greta, so I cooked up a tasty stew to put in her fridge.
The recipe is taken from a book i’m reviewing – Aggie’s Family Cookbook by Aggie MacKenzie of How Clean Is Your House fame. Check back on the blog soon for a full write-up of this practical tome.
It’s a great recipe as it doesn’t need hours to cook – the whole thing can be prepped and ready in under an hour. It does however benefit from an overnight stay in the fridge – the robust paprika flavour really intensifies, but not so spicy it’d put off little people.
Robust flavours in this substantial stew recipe
It’s a protein-lovers’ dream with chunks of pork, little chorizo sausages and chickpeas – great energy food.
I’d be tempted to double up the recipe and portion it off into the freezer as a fast jacket potato topping on a cold Saturday lunchtime.
Pork, chickpea and chorizo stew (Aggie MacKenzie, Aggie’s Family Cookbook)
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20-25 mins
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion thinly sliced
1 red/yellow pepper, sliced
1 garlic clove, sliced
400g pork tenderloin cut into bite-size pieces (chicken also works well)
8 mini chorizo sausages
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
400g chopped tomtoes
150ml hot chicken/veg stock
400g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
METHOD
1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion and pepper. Cook over a medium heat for 5 mins, until the onion starts to turn golden and the pepper softens. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the pork and chorizo and brown quickly. Stir in the paprika, then add the tomatoes and stock. Season well, cover and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, or until the pork is cooked.
3. Tip the chickpeas into the pan and cook for a further 2-3 mins to heat through. Spoon into bowls and serve with crusty bread.
I’m going to try and make a vegetarian version of this using more veggies and some quorn pieces.
This looks great, and what a lovely idea.
I have that cookbook, I must go through it again & find this recipe – I must admit I did mostly look at the cakes & puddings!
there are some lovely puds in that book so i’m not surprised!
Ah – I love this recipe!! I use a chunk of diced choritzo instead of the sausages though. I also made it for my friend when she had her little son, but I didn’t put a pretty ribbon on it like you – what a nice idea! x
i’m obsessed with putting ribbon on everything at the moment 😉
Looks a great winter warmer recipe – and it’s a lovely gift for new parents when they’re at that “hamster on a wheel” stage! I’m all for a bit of practical help!
Indeed – nothing like a cooked dinner that you’ve not had to make!
How very nice of you to do it for your friend. I wish I had such a friend. 🙂
Aw thanks Carolina – friends are precious 🙂
Going to give this a go, Stupid question alert though…. is smoked sweet paprika different to the jar of paprika I have in the cupboard???
I’d say it’s probably sweet paprika – it’ll be fine to use that, but if you’re after a smokier flavour then you can get the smoked sweet paprika in little tins.
must admit think that is a wonderful idea, and yes something I would have appreciated back in the day, but have never thought about doing.
Thank you for clarifying 🙂 x
This is a dish which can be adapted to suit whatever you have available. For instance you can use pork cheek instead of tenderloin, which makes it cheaper, or use chicken joints (I halved them) and you still get a good result. I don’t always use the pepper if I don’t have one and I often put in a pinch of chilli powder to spice it up a bit. All in all a very good and versatile recipe.
I like the idea of using pork cheeks – cheap cuts can make such a difference to your weekly shop bill! Thanks for the tip and glad you like the recipe 🙂
I have now cooked this recipe a number of times and is a definite favourite. To give it a bit more kick try more paprika. Also if you slow cook this the pork melts in your mouth.
So glad you like the recipe – I haven’t cooked it in ages and really must get my slow cooker out again and give it a whirl. Thanks so much for the tips 🙂