The roasted chicken with prunes and pine nuts, or pollastre rostit with prunes and pinyons It is a classic of Catalan Christmas. A major party dish that perhaps today, due to the availability of chicken, does not call our attention so much, but we must remember that until four days ago, in historical terms, chicken was a posh dish. Rostit alludes to roasted meat and rostir in Catalan originally means to cook the meat on a spit (last), in an oven, etc. subjecting it to a lively fire smearing or spraying it with grease.
The name of the roast chicken dish has come to refer to a formula that is prepared over the fire, in a casserole, as Jaume Fàbrega -specialist in gastronomy and author of more than 50 books- says in his article entitled christmas roast: Roast chicken in Catalonia means cooked in a casserole, neither on a spit nor in the oven; many people are unaware of this wonderful technique and confuse it with stewed chicken. He says that both rotating spits and ovens have not been within the reach of ordinary people, but this roast or roast in a casserole allows to reproduce some of the benefits of spit roast.
The fat with which this roast was traditionally prepared was lard, although it tends to be replaced by olive oil or, frequently, by a mixture of both. The same Fàbrega reports that Christmas roast chicken should include fresh vegetables such as carrots, onion, garlic and a little tomato; aromatic herbs such as thyme, oregano and bay leaf, and always a bit of cinnamon. I have not been able to find out at what moment or as a result of which it became customary to incorporate prunes and pine nuts. But we celebrate it and we give you our version of this delicious dish.
Difficulty
Little, having the patience to cook the chicken long enough to make it perfectly tender.
Ingredients
For 6 people
- 1 chicken cut into pieces
- 2 white onions
- 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 cloves
- 1/2 stick of cinnamon
- 300 ml of stale wine
- 200 g of prunes
- 100 g of pine nuts
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
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Season the chicken pieces. Reserve.
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Peel the onion and cut it into julienne strips.
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Cover the bottom of a casserole with olive oil where all the chicken will fit, heat and fry the onion over low heat until it is transparent.
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Add the chopped tomato, fry the whole over high heat until the liquid is reduced and transfer the onion and tomato to a blender. Blend perfectly and reserve.
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Add some more olive oil to the casserole and brown the chicken pieces over high heat.
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Without removing the chicken, add the separated but unpeeled garlic cloves, as well as the two cloves.
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Pour the stale wine and deglaze the whole.
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Add to the chicken casserole the tomato and onion puree, as well as the cinnamon stick and the prunes.
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Cover the casserole and cook over very low heat until the chicken is tender; if necessary, add water if liquid becomes too low before chicken is tender.
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Lightly toast the pine nuts in a pan without fat and add them to the stew in the last 10 minutes of cooking. After this time, rest for five minutes and serve.
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