Primo One Pot Meals

Since you liked the one-pot pasta option, and quarantine has made everybody so insanely busy, they don't want to wash dishes on top of homeschooling, home working and schedule management, here are more premium one-pot meals to brighten a stay in the great indoors.  

Since it's Ramadan, let's start with the traditional Middle Eastern favorite for people who have to pray all day and can't cook or wash dishes:
Harira

This is the Moroccan version. It's astonishingly hearty and tasty. It's radically simple: you just put everything--and there are a pile of ingredients--in one pot and cook it up. It takes a while but you do not have to tend it. Go do something else and let it be. It also tastes better the next day.
serves 6

1 1/4 lb stewing lamb or beef cut into 1" cubes
2 tsp ground cumin
1 lg onion, diced
1 lg bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, diced
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground coriander
1 can cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 c green lentils
1 qt beef broth
1 qt water
1 tsp salt or more to your taste
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 c all purpose flour
1 c tomato paste
1/2 tsp harissa (this is the local hot sauce)
1 1/2 c water
The last four items are for the "roux" that will thicken the stew at the end. Combine them in a bowl or cup with a pouring spout and whisk together until smooth. Set aside.

Lightly coat the bottom of a large heavy gauge casserole with olive oil and heat it over medium flame. Add the meat and cumin and sauté 3-5 minutes to brown the meat. Toss in the onions and stir. Add 1/2 of the cilantro, all the parsley, celery, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, coriander, 1 tsp of caraway, chickpeas, lentils, broth and water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 1 hour. Strain off the foam at the top.
Slowly pour in the tomato mixture, stirring to blend. Add salt and the remaining caraway plus a little more black pepper. If the stew looks like the liquid is drying up too soon, add another 1/2 c water or broth. Simmer 30 minutes. Strain off the foam at the top.

Ladle into bowls. Squirt with lemon juice, add chopped cilantro and serve with fresh dates and flatbread. (I sometimes cut the dates up at serving time and throw them in the soup bowls.)
 

Crete Fisherman's Stew
The Mediterranean fisherman throw their right off the boat catch and their potatoes in a pot, fire it up and have a delicious meal in no time. They use a local fleshy white fish, turbot. You can use halibut or sea bass, branzino, even thick slabs of haddock.
Serves 4

2 1/4 lbs medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 turbot (around 4 lbs), scaled, gutted and cut into 5 pieces, including the head
1 1/2 c tomatoes, chopped
2 celery sticks
4 bay leaves
Salt
1 2/3 c extra virgin olive oil
3 c water
Juice of 2 lemons
Parsley leaves
4 langoustines or prawns or a small lobster in pieces

Use a lidded saucepan that will fit the potatoes snugly in a single layer at the bottom of the pan. After adding the potatoes, add the fish, followed by the tomatoes, celery, bay leaves, salt, olive oil and water. The liquid will only partly cover the fish. Put the saucepan over a high heat and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and continue to boil another 20 minutes. Shake the pan every so often, but never stir the contents.

 Before you turn the soup off, make sure the potatoes are soft. Add the lemon juice and parsley leaves, then give the pan a final shake. Turn off the heat, add the langoustines or prawns or lobster parts and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.
 

To serve, use a slotted spoon to carefully transfer the fish to shallow bowls. Divide the soup and potatoes into bowls. Add a langoustine or prawn to each bowl. Serve with toasted baguette or warm pita.

Arroz con Pollo

This is the famous, beloved Spanish, and also Cuban --the version here, dish of sauteed chicken buried in rice made yellow by luxurious saffron. It's the simplest form of paella.

serves 4-6

1/4 c olive oil

1 lg onion, diced

2½-3 lbs chicken parts

1 green pepper, seeded & diced                             

juice of a lime                                        

2 c rice

3 garlic cloves, minced                          

4 c chicken stock

1 tsp ground chipotle chili or similar      

1 c tomatoes, diced (boxed okay)

1 tsp ground cumin                                

Salt and pepper to your taste

5 saffron threads

Marinate chicken in lime, garlic, cumin and chili 4-6 hours. In a large skillet or paella pan, heat oil. Brown chicken on both sides and remove from the pan. Sauté onion and green pepper 5 min. in the remaining oil. Stir in the rice to glaze with oil. Add the saffron. Arrange chicken over rice, skin side up. Add tomatoes, marinade, stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover the pan and cook 25-30 minutes until rice is fluffy and chicken tender. Garnish with chopped cilantro.  Serve with a tomato cucumber salad.

Pasta e fagioli (Macaroni and beans) 

This is one of my personal favorite comfort foods. Using canned beans speeds up the preparation with only a small loss of flavor. This version calls for ordinary macaroni or ditalini with cannellini (white) beans, but I've seen versions made with Roman (borlotti, cranberry) beans too. Use what you have on the shelf. Who cares? And btw, this is a rare Italian recipe that does not use garlic.

There is a historic debate, never settled, as to whether this is a soup or a pasta dish, meaning how dry should it be when served. However you want it to be works and tastes just fine. 

One more note: there is a Roman version known as pasta e ceci, macaroni and chickpeas. I posted the recipe during the winter. It looks like this:

Serves 4

1 cup dried white beans  (Great Northern, Cranberry, Cannellini)

1 sm yellow onion, diced

¼ tsp dried rosemary leaves

1/8 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

2 sm or 1 lg carrot, peeled and diced

1 lg celery stalk, diced

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried sage leaves

1 cup chopped tomatoes in their juice (canned or boxed is okay)

4 cups vegetable or beef broth

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

¾ cup tubellini, ditalini, or some small pasta

handful arugula, chopped

½ cup freshly minced flat leaf parsley

parmesan cheese for garnish

Soak the beans overnight. Or if you're in a hurry, soak them in boiling water for two hours. Drain and rinse.

Line the bottom of a heavy gauge casserole or soup pot with the olive oil and warm it over medium heat. Add the onion, rosemary leaves and black pepper. Sauté over medium low heat until the onion is soft and golden. Add the carrots and celery and continue to sauté another five minutes so they start to soften. Add the oregano, sage and tomatoes in their juice. Stir to blend. Cook 7-8 minutes over low heat.

Add the beans and stir them in to the mix. Add the broth. Bring the pot to a boil. cover and immediately reduce heat to simmer. Cook 50-60 minutes until beans are tender. (NOTE: If you are using canned beans, drain them, add them and just cook 20 minutes.

Scoop out about 1/2-2/3 cup of the beans--veggies will come with them, that's okay, and puree them. Return to the pot to thicken the broth. Add salt to your taste.

Bring the pot to a boil again and add the pasta. Cook until pasta is done, about 10 minutes. Toss in the arugula and parsley and turn off the heat. Let it sit 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top of every bowl or plate.

 
Choucroute (Alsatian sauerkraut with sausage, bacon and potatoes)

The real deal, served as choucroute garni is quite complex. The pork fest is cooked in one pot, but nearly all day as various ingredients are added. I've made the long as well as my own short versions that depend on how much time and how many ingredients I have around. The point is just to cook together fresh sauerkraut (choucroute in French), potatoes, apples and various forms of pork (sausages, hot dogs, smoked bacon, pork belly). Then bring out the mustard and enjoy.  
serves 4 

2 tbsp veg oil or lard
1 lb pork belly, pancetta or other fatty cured pork 
2 med/lg onions, sliced into very thin rings
1/2 bottle dry white wine (cheap is fine but dry is vital)
1 c broth (veg or chicken or veal) or water
1/2 lb smoked bacon strips (cut into thirds)
2 lbs fresh sauerkraut
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves         
2 whole cloves 
10 juniper berries** (this is the traditional flavor but if you don't have them shift the palate with 1 tsp caraway seed) 
2 pork sausages (with fork holes punched in poach them a minute to leach out the fat you don't want) , cut in half
4 frankfurters or knockwurst
1 bratwurst
4 med boiling potatoes, peeled and halved
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced in thin wedges
 **These are often tied in cheesecloth with the whole cloves and whole garlic cloves. You can if you have the cloth and time. Otherwise stick them in and pull them to the side of the dinner plate when eating.

 In a large heavy gauge casserole pot, over med heat, fry the pork belly or whatever you are using in the oil/lard to get the fat into the pot. Then lower heat and add the onion. Sauté gently so it turns soft and golden.  Add the bacon and cook just 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and broth/water. Add the sauerkraut. Mix in the garlic, cloves, juniper berries or caraway seed. Nestle the poached pork sausages, frankfurters, bratwurst (cut in 4 pieces), potatoes and apples  in it. Season with salt and pepper remembering sauerkraut is cabbage cured in salt. Cover the casserole and cook on med/low heat 40 minutes. (This is an abbreviated version of the real deal.) All the meat should be well done. If it is not cook on til it is. 

When serving, make certain everyone gets equal potato, sausage, bacon and frankfurter. And bring out your best beer.                                              

Cinnamon Beef Noodle Soup

not my photo

This is soul food you never forget, hearty beef and slurpy noodles fragrant with star anise and cinnamon.
Serves 6

1 lb. lean stewing beef, cut into one- inch cubes
2 lg. onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
5 lg. garlic cloves, peeled, lightly smashed and thinly sliced
1” fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into “quarter” sized disks
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole star anise
4 cups beef broth
5 cups water
salt to taste (this will depend on how salty the beef broth is)
1 tbsp. corn or safflower oil
1 tsp. hot chili sauce or paste (i often use the Vietnamese chili garlic sauce available in supermarkets)
½ lb. flat wide noodles (i often use pappardelle or Pennsylvania Dutch egg noodles)
1 bunch (10 oz) spinach leaves, rinsed and drained

Heat the oil in the bottom of a large soup pot or casserole over medium high heat. Brown the meat by quickly stir frying it for a minute or two. Add the chopped onion and sliced garlic and continue to stir fry another minute.  Add the ginger disks, stars anise and chili. Stir to blend with the meat.  Add the broth and water. Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for an hour or until the beef is very tender. At this point you can remove the soup from the heat, cool, cover and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.  Or you can skim off impurities and fat and continue.

When you are ready to serve, prepare the noodles in their own pot of boiling salted water, cooking until tender. Rinse and drain. Distribute them among 4-5 soup bowls.

While the noodles are cooking, remove the stars anise, cinnamon sticks and ginger disks from the beef soup. Add the spinach leaves on the top and bring back to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat. Taste for salt.
Ladle the soup over the noodles in the soup bowls and serve.

Kleftiko, Greek roast lamb with potatoes

I included this two weeks ago in the Spring Lamb post so please fine the recipe there.