Tuscan Chicken Lentil Stew
I got this from a wonderful Italian friend after trying it at a soup exchange night. I am so in love with this soup it is a favorite.
I got this from a wonderful Italian friend after trying it at a soup exchange night. I am so in love with this soup it is a favorite.
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 whole onion chopped small
- 5 each potatoes chopped 1/2 in x 1/2 in
- 3 each carrots chopped fine
- 4 each chicken breasts boneless and skinless chopped 1/2 in x 1/2 in
- 1 can tomato sauce 28 oz
- 1 can diced tomatoes 28 oz
- 2 cups lentils
- 1 whole red pepper chopped small
- 5 cloves garlic chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons oregano chopped
- 1 tablespoon basil chopped
- 2 tablespoons italian parsley chopped
- 1 box beef broth
- Carbohydrate 40.6675133344703 g
- Cholesterol 22.8133333333333 mg
- Fat 2.31088916723256 g
- Fiber 10.0928750297668 g
- Protein 17.4933891669307 g
- Saturated Fat 0.467227666753341 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (459g)
- Sodium 1136.51620951341 mg
- Sugar 30.5746383047034 g
- Trans Fat 0.378222333369524 g
- Calories 245 calories
Step-by-step
- Place lentils in a cookpot with 3 cups water and boil till tender.
- While lentils are cooking chop potatoes, carrots and red pepper.
- Separately chop Chicken and saute in separate pan with olive oil until cooked through
- In stock pot saute on low to medium heat chopped onion and garlic in olive oil. Saute until tender. Do not let brown. Add chopped potatoes, red peppers and carrots and stir. If needed at a little more oil to avoid sticking to pot. Add oregano, smoked paprika, basil and parsley and stir. Cook, stirring constantly about 10-15 minutes. Pour in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and Beef Broth and continue to stir.
- Once lentils are tender pour with cooking water into stock pot. Add chicken and stir. Allow to simmer for 20-40 minutes until carrots and potatoes are tender. Enjoy!
Ingredient rosters rarely convey how physical transformations occur during prolonged simmering. Raw aromatics change entirely when exposed to fat and heat over time. Onions contain sulfur compounds that break down into sweet propenyl sulfenic acid when sweated gently without browning. Garlic releases allicin upon mincing, which mellows significantly when introduced to warm olive oil before the high-water tomatoes enter the pot.
Starch management presents the primary hazard here. Adding raw potatoes and dry lentils directly to an acidic tomato base causes pectin stabilization in the potato cells. Acid prevents the middle lamella from dissolving. Potatoes stay hard indefinitely if cooked in straight tomato sauce. Cooking the lentils separately in plain water avoids this chemical lock. Dice the root vegetables to a precise half-inch dimension to ensure they soften concurrently with the legume simmer phase.
Smoked paprika introduces guaiacol and other phenolic compounds that mimic long-wood-smoke flavors without requiring a smoker. This fat-soluble spice binds efficiently to the three tablespoons of olive oil during the initial herb bloom. Browning the chicken separately prevents moisture release from diluting the spice-fat emulsion. Cook the poultry pieces just until internal temperatures reach 74 degrees Celsius before transferring them to the main stock pot.
Simmer the final mixture on low heat for twenty to forty minutes. Watch for the carrots to yield easily to the tines of a fork. Store leftovers in an airtight glass container for up to four days at four degrees Celsius or lower. Freezing changes the structural integrity of the potatoes, yielding a mealy texture upon thawing.
