Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
This stew is known today as a Cuban dish, but it originated in Spain. And since the Canary Islands belong to Spain, you will also find this dish on these islands. A stew with a warm deep taste! It is also a nice zero-waste recipe because in Spain they use this stew to use up leftovers. Just put everything in one pot and stew! The distinctive flavor of this dish comes from the smoked paprika. It gives the Canarian ropa vieja stew real character. This stew could certainly not be missed in the list of Canarian recipes that will be online during our Canary voyage of discovery these two weeks! Ropa vieja spanish recipe.
Canary ropa vieja stew
The Canary Islands have to import a lot of products but also have a few distinctive products of their own. Such as goat cheese, goat meat, rum, and gofio (a type of cornstarch). The history of these islands is marked by conquest and being conquered by various countries. The Dutch also made an attempt, but failed to really get a foothold. It is a pity that because of this kind of expansion drive the real original Canarians, the Guanches, had to lose out. The islands are therefore a melting pot of various cultures and diverse cuisines. This Canarian ropa vieja stew is an example of this.
Ropa vieja literally means "old clothes" and refers to the torn pieces of meat that are in the stew. The dish originated in Spain, where it was made with leftovers from cooked beef. However, the Canarian version usually uses pork or chicken, and also adds chickpeas, potatoes and vegetables. The stew is flavored with paprika, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, garlic and tomato paste. It is a simple but tasty dish that you can serve with bread, rice or gofio.
The Canarian ropa vieja stew is a typical example of how Canarian cuisine has influences from different cultures. The chickpeas and spices come from Arabic cuisine, the tomato paste from American cuisine and the meat from European cuisine. The dish is also a symbol of how the Canarians deal with their limited resources. They use what they can grow or produce locally, like goat cheese and rum, and waste nothing by turning leftovers into delicious dishes like ropa vieja.
Here you will find the complete recipe with all the ingredients you need. I hope you have fun preparing the dish below.
Canary ropa vieja stew
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Ingredients:
- 1 kg neck-lap
- 250 ml beef boullion
- 3 peppers - yellow/red/green cut into strips
- 1 can grilled peppers - cut into strips
- 5 toes Garlic - XNUMX onion - shredded
- 1 root - grated and cut in half
- 2 celery sticks - cut in half
- 800 gram peeled tomatoes - 2 x 400 gram can
- 2 white onions - XNUMX onion - shredded
- 1 tin can tomato paste
- 150 gram green olives
- 2 el capers
- 150 ml White wine
- 4 twigs fresh chopped parsley - finely chopped
To make spice mix:
- 1 el peper
- 2 el salt
- 1 el smoked paprika powder
- 1 el onion powder
- 2 el paprika powder mild
- 1 el cumin powder
- 1 el nutmeg powder
- 2 bay leaves
Nice and easy: click on the logo of your favorite supermarket to add the ingredients.
And this is how you make it:
- Grab a bowl and add all the herbs and spices in it and mix everything into one spice mix with a fork.
- Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper. Heat your frying pan well and pour in some olive oil. Fry the meat well on both sides until it is really well browned. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate.
- Spoon the chopped onion, garlic and the can of tomato puree and the spice mix into the pan and fry for two minutes. (Your bottom will cake and blacken for a while, that's no problem, that's where the taste comes from!).
- Add the bell pepper strips (we will save the grilled bell pepper strips until later). And deglaze with the wine, let it fry for a while. Add the carrot and celery to the pan and then the meat. Add the peeled tomatoes and the stock. The meat should now be submerged. Add the bay leaves.
- Place the pan on the stew with the lid on and let it simmer for 4 hours.
- After the 4 hours your meat should be completely tender, remove it from the pan and also remove the carrot and celery and bay leaf. Pull the meat apart with two forks and return it to the pan. Now add the capers, the grilled bell pepper strips, the olives and parsley. Stir well and let it simmer for another half hour without a lid on the pan.
- Taste, season with some salt if necessary and serve with black beans and rice.
- Delicious bites!
This is a delicious beef dish, but I still have quite a few of those, try this one:
This Tex-Mex cowboy stew with a Dutch twist.
Special but certainly very tasty: stewed rabbit in Madeira sauce!
And this "succa de bocca" a delicious summer stew.
Delicious Happen is a multi-media company, so you can also find me on various social media. follow me on Facebook, Pinterest en Instagram under @delicioushappen. If you make this recipe I would love it if you tagged me #delicioushappen. A comment below in the comments is also nice of course!
ropa vieja spanish
Hi Francine,
A delicious dish.
How many bay leaves are needed?
I don't see them listed in the ingredients.
Thank you very much in advance for your answer.
Greetings,
Manolito
Hi, they are listed under the herbs. 2 pieces, have fun cooking!