A meal soup or un-thickened stew from Galicia in northern Spain that combines chicken, chorizo and a range of root vegetables, herbs, spices and pulses to deliver a delicious, healthy and filling meal.
This is my version of a traditional Galician caldo (broth) I first encountered in a neighbourhood eatery in Vigo in Galicia. The proprietor-slash-chef gave me her recipe and it's since become one of my favourite "comfort foods". Traditionally, caldo uses turnips and, importantly, their sprouting tops. This version doesn't (too early in the season) but does a similar thing with celery (and its sprouting leaves) and using celeriac instead of potatoes, another root vegetable more often used.
This recipe serves 2 to 3 diners. You can make it with potatoes, turnips or celeriac (as I have done here) or any combination of these; entirely down to personal choice. Also, don't think of the veggies as being fixed in proportion. I used more carrots than usual simply because I had some I didn't want to go to waste. But, the quantities of root vegetables, celery and bell pepper can be adjusted to what you have available. Basically it's a great friend of the zero-waste kitchen.
Shopping list
2 medium red onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated
3 or 4 large sticks of celery; irregularly chopped (as well as the "shooting" leaves)
I large red or yellow bell pepper, cut into large cubes
1 or 2 boneless chicken thighs, chopped into relatively small cubes (or comparable quantities of rabbit, which make for a wonderful caldo)
Approx. 125g chorizo, cut into thick slices
3 or 4 big carrots, cut into large, irregular pieces
½ a medium celeriac, peeled and cut into large cubes (or 3 to 4 potatoes or small turnips, peeled and cut into large cubes)
1 cup of vegetable stock, fresh or a good quality cube diluted in boiling water
1 small cup of broad beans, fresh or frozen
½ a cup of tomato passata
Approx. 75g spinach; fresh or frozen, finely chopped
1 glass of white wine
1 tspn smoked garlic paste
2 tspns of pimentón (at these quantities, it will make it fairly spicy. Use only one tspn if you prefer it less piquant)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil, at least 5 tbspns
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
About 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh lemon thyme, finely chopped
Cooking Method
Heat the olive oil in a large, deep saucepan with a lid. Once the oil is hot, but not smoking, first add the garlic and begin to brown. Shortly afterwards, add and stir in the onion. Cover and sweat both for about 4 to 5 mins
Add the celery and stir together, ensuring the oil seals the celery. Pour in half of the wine and cook off. Cover and allow to sweat for a further 4 to 5 mins, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing sticks
Add the bell pepper and herbs (and a little extra olive oil if needed) and stir together. As the bell pepper begins to soften, add the smoked garlic paste and stir in
Add the chicken and allow to settle for a few minutes. Sprinkle the pimentón over the top of the chicken as it settles. Season with black pepper and salt and leave for a minute or so. Then, stir all of the ingredients together, ensuring the chicken seals on all sides
As soon as the chicken is sealed, add the sliced chorizo, stirring thoroughly. Once the chorizo is coated by the moisture in the pan, slowly pour in the remainder of the wine, stirring gently as it cooks off
Part II
Add the root vegetables and mix with the ingredients of the pot, slowly pouring in the passata while stirring. Then, add enough stock until the ingredients are almost covered with liquid. Stir, cover and bring to the boil
Boil vigorously for at least 5 mins. Stir, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for at least 25 mins, stirring occasionally, more frequently as it cooks down. NB: this is another of those dishes that can benefit from more time: cook it on the lowest possible heat for longer to increase the depth of flavours if you have the luxury of time
When the carrots are cooked but still al dente, add the broad beans, stir, cover and simmer for a further 5 mins
Add the spinach and stir in ( this will take about 3 mins longer if using frozen). Stir, again cover and simmer for about 3 mins. Turn off the heat, stir and allow the caldo to cook under the remaining heat of the pot until serving
Plate, with a rustic bread, toasted served with olive oil
Alternatives
When I do this as a veggie/vegan version, which I do often, .I tend to replace the chicken and chorizo with two additional vegetables in similar quantities. My personal favourite combination is roughly diced aubergine (treated in the same way as the chicken is above) and chickpeas, added with the carrots as per above. But a number of other veggies work well (such as artichokes or butternut squash) as does adding not additional types of vegetables, but simply more of those used in the recipe above.
I have cooked versions with Quorn chunks (in lieu of chicken) and tempeh (in place of the chorizo) and, indeed, it was very tasty, though perhaps a bit "cloudy" and saltier than usual as the tempeh broke up during cooking. The taste, however, was great.
Accompaniments
The first time I ate this dish it was with beer—Estella Galicia, what else?—which is always a good beverage option. Today I went for a simple spritz of mineral water with a dab or orange and lemon juice, a great non-booze pairing.
More usually, I use it as an excuse for wines from the northern regions of Spain (among my personal favourite wine-growing producers, even with their the workaday ones) and delight in the combination of chicken (or rabbit) and chorizo offering the perfect justification of going with either reds or whites. On the whole, I tend towards whites in the warmer months (it's a hearty but very easily digested dish) and reds in the winter... okay, so generally from further south.
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