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Ostropel (Romanian Chicken Stew)
A chicken stew from Romania consisting of bone-in chicken pieces simmered in a tomato sauce and served with polenta.
servings: 4
total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
recipe by: Frankie
Ingredients
- STEW:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- salt & pepper
- 3 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (thighs and legs)
- 1 TBSP plus 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 TBSP plus 1 TBSP unsalted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped small
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 2 pounds tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- POLENTA:
- 1 cup water
- 3 cups whole milk
- salt & freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 4 TBSP unsalted butter
Directions
- STEW:
- Add the flour to a shallow bowl and mix with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
- Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture then shake off any excess flour and set the chicken pieces aside on a plate.
- Melt 1 TBSP of butter with 1 TBSP oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Add about half the chicken pieces to the pan and cook until browned on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
- Transfer the browned chicken to a plate. Add the remaining oil and butter to the pan and brown the remaining chicken pieces the same way.
- When the chicken is browned and out of the pan add the onion to the pan keeping it over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, thyme, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook while breaking up the tomatoes for about 5 minutes.
- Place the chicken pieces back in the pan along with the bay leaves and reduce the heat to medium-low. Place a lid on the pan and simmer over medium-low heat for about 25 minutes.
- Remove the lid and continue to simmer over medium-low heat until sauce is thickened a bit and chicken is cooked through, about 15 more minutes.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste then take the pan off the heat and set aside while you make the polenta.
- POLENTA:
- In a medium size saucepan bring the water, milk, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to low and SLOWLY stir in the cornmeal. Cook while stirring until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the butter until melted and well combined. Take off the heat and season with salt & pepper to taste.
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