Ropa vieja – Canarian shredded meat with chickpeas and potatoes
Boiled, shredded beef and chicken tossed with chickpeas, fried diced potatoes and a sofrito of onion, peppers, tomato, garlic, paprika and thyme. In the Canary Islands it's made with the leftovers of the puchero stew – if you have leftover boiled meat, skip the simmering.
- 1 h 51Time
- 1 h 01Hands-on
- 4Portions
- 52 gprotein per portion
- 840kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 500 gBeef chuck, in one piece
- 2Bay leaves
- to tasteSalt
- 300 gChicken thigh fillet
- 500 gPotato
- 3 tbspOlive oil, for frying (what the potatoes soak up)
- 4 tbspOlive oil, for the sofrito
- 1Yellow onion, chopped
- 1Bell pepper, red, chopped
- 1Italian green pepper, chopped
- 4 clovesGarlic, chopped
- 3Tomatoes, grated
- 1 tspPaprika, sweet
- 1 tspThyme, dried
- 3 mlCumin
- 100 mlWhite wine
- 500 gChickpeas, cooked, drained
- to tasteBlack pepper
Method
- Put the beef in a pot with the bay leaves, cover with water, add salt and bring to the boil, skimming off the foam.
- Cover and simmer for 1 hour, until the beef is starting to soften.
- Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into small dice.
- Heat plenty of oil in a frying pan (about 2 cm deep) and fry the potatoes in batches until golden, about 8 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper and salt.
- Add the chicken to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes more, until both meats are very tender.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wide casserole and cook the onion, peppers and garlic for 10 minutes, until soft.
- Add the tomato, paprika, thyme and cumin and cook for 8 minutes, until the tomato's liquid has cooked off. Pour in the wine and let it evaporate.
- Lift the meats out of the broth, let them cool a little and pull them into shreds with two forks, removing any fat.
- Stir the shredded meat, chickpeas and fried potatoes into the sofrito, season and cook gently for 5 minutes, turning carefully, until everything is hot and well mixed. Serve straight away.
