Looking for a no-stress weekday dinner? This recipe may be your new best friend!
Do you like easy throw-it-all-together yet healthy and yummy recipes? Then this one is for you….
Ever since I found this recipe in a crock-pot recipe book about 16 years back, this dish has ended up on our dinner-table at least once in two weeks, if not more. I lost the book, but this stayed on in my heart. The recipe below is the result of a few tweaks from my end to make it simpler while not compromising on the taste.
When my son was a little over a year old, I made baby food with this, blending it a little with some cooked brown rice. And my little man devoured all of it, much to my glee!
Since then it has found its way to many home-thrown parties and potlucks too. Pairs wonderfully with cooked white (even brown) rice and pasta.
Are you ready? Here we go!
Ingredients:
- Chicken: 2 lbs (I prefer skin-on, bone-on cut up whole organic chicken, but you could use thighs/ legs etc. as per the chef’s choice)
- Ragu traditional old world style pasta sauce: 1 lb
- Salt: to taste (we may not need much since the pasta sauce already has some salt)
- Black pepper: to taste
- Green bell pepper: 1 small, sliced
- Onions: 1 small, sliced
- Garlic: 3 cloves, thinly sliced
- Parsley: 1 tbsp, freshly chopped (you could also use dried flakes)
- Water:1/2 cup
- Olive oil: 1 tbsp
Method:
The easiest part: put all the ingredients together in a crock-pot or pressure cooker, stir with a spoon gently to mix, and cook!
I have used crock-pot and when I have more time to spare, a pressure cooker with almost similar results.
Crock-pot: 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
My special tip: You can use a timed outlet plug that you can set for the hours needed (I got mine from home depot for about $5 in that era). That way you could set everything in the crock-pot, plug it into the pre-timed plug, leave for work and come home to the delicious aroma or home-made wholesome heart warming food. Better still if your crock-pot has the “keep warm” option. How simpler could it get?
Pressure cooker: I used a basic pressure cooker, and just cooked till one whistle with the weight on the spout.
With the crock-pot, the flavors are already blended together very well by the end of the cooking. With the pressure cooker, it still tastes great but an expert discerning tongue may note that the center of the chicken pieces could soak more of the flavors……which will happen in due course of time anyway, either when you leave it for an hour or longer and then reheat, or when you refrigerate.
Needless to say, as with all delicious recipes, this tastes heavenly the next day when refrigerated and reheated. So if you have leftovers, reason to celebrate!
Buon appetito!