Tocanita
Tocanita is a rustic heartwarming Romanian dish that's sure to win you over with its clean herby flavors and rich sweetness.
Equipment
- 1 large frying pan
- 1 small saucepan (to parboil potatoes)
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized (3-4 lbs) chicken corn-fed free-range
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 medium carrot finely grated
- 1 large sweet pepper or 1 red bell pepper roughly chopped
- 3 medium-sized potatoes cubed and parboiled
- 1 can chopped tomatoes 400 g
- 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree or paste
- 250 ml water
- 20 g each dill and parsley to garnish Finely chopped
- Salt and black pepper to taste ( as a guide 1½ tsp each)
Instructions
Prep the chicken
- Use a plastic chopping board to portion up the chicken into pieces: wings, breast, drumsticks and thighs. Make sure you divide the chicken breast in roughly 4 pieces. You should end up with 10 pieces of chicken. Set aside the rest of the carcass and put in your freezer to make stock or a soup later.
Fry the Chicken (25-30 minutes):
- In a large pan, heat olive oil and fry the chicken until golden brown, turning every 10 minutes for that perfect, crispy skin. Then set aside on a plate.
Prep the veggies
- Peel and chop the onion. Wash and remove the seeds from the pepper, then slice and chop in rough pieces. Top and tail, peel and grate the carrot. Peel the garlic and set aside.
Parboil the Potatoes (8 minutes):
- While the chicken sizzles, parboil the cubed potatoes separately to ensure a tender yet firm texture.
Saute the onions and veggies (20 minutes)
- In the same pot where the chicken pieces were fried, add a little more olive oil and sauté finely chopped onions on medium heat until translucent. To prevent burning, add a little warm or hot water to deglaze the pan. Add minced garlic.
- Add the grated carrot and chopped sweet pepper to the sautéed mix. Let them meld together until softened. Add water as you need to avoid the pan catching and burning.
Combine and Simmer (15 minutes):
- Add the golden-brown chicken back to the pan with the sauteed vegetables. Toss in the parboiled potatoes. Some of the potatoes may fall apart, but that's okay, it will make the sauce nice and thick. Add a little more water to help everything stew and cook well. Allow to simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and stir through then the chopped tomatoes and simmer for around 10 minutes until the sauce has cooked and thickened.
- Check a thicker chicken piece to make sure it has cooked through. You may cook for a further 5 minutes if you need to.
Garnish
- Take the pan off the heat. Sprinkle finely chopped dill and parsley into the pan, and stir through at the end.
Serve and enjoy
- Plate up your tocanita alongside creamy polenta or a healthy chunk of crusty bread, adding more herbs if you want. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Add water as you need to avoid the pan catching and burning and help everything cook thoroughly. Keep the cooking at medium heat.
Take great care when handling raw chicken. If you are not confident with portioning the chicken up, ask your butcher to portion it for you or use bone in or boneless drumsticks or thighs.
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