Meat Stew (Tochitura)

Usually when I cook a stew I don’t follow the exact recipe every time, instead I like to play with the ingredients and I often use whatever I have in the refrigerator. You can use any combination of meat – sausage / bacon / pork / beef / chicken add garlic, onion and spices, add wine and you are set for great reviews for dinner. The meat stew goes really well with polenta and pickles or you can make some steamed or mashed potatoes on the side.

Every time  I go to a Romanian restaurant this is what I get. It’s a perfect combination of meat and tomatoes infused with wine and garlic, simply delicious. This is definitely a comfort food that you will want to serve all year round.

You can use any type of meat you want, or a combination. This is what I used for this particular time:

Ingredients (you can play around with the ingredients, add more meat if you want):

• 2 medium chopped onions
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2-3 sausages
• beef or pork (or both) about the quantity of a chicken breast)
• 6 ounces tomato paste (170 g)
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (14 oz) or you can use fresh chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cups wine
• 3-4 garlic cloves minced
• thyme
• 1 TSP paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Cut chicken breasts and beef into small pieces, slice the sausage
• Wilt onion in bacon or butter or olive oil
• Add paprika and garlic
• Add the meat – chicken, beef, sausage
• And spices, salt & pepper
• Let is brown (about 5-10 minutes) and add the wine after
• Add chopped tomatoes
• Cover with water and simmer until tender (about 45 minutes)
• Add tomato paste and let it boil for few more minutes while stirring
• Serve warm with polenta (I also added some feta cheese on top) or mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!