Pollo con Calabacitas was one one the featured recipes at the cooking class I taught last year. The star of the night was the batch of homemade pork chorizo we prepared. Besides the chicken dish, there was Chorizo con Huevo and Arroz Rojo con Chorizo.
I really enjoy teaching the hands on cooking classes. Thanks to my good friend Sue and her beautiful Kitchen Store, I am able have fun doing the job I love. There are many variations on how to prepare Pollo Con Calabacitas, but a few of the ingredients we used were tomato and chipotles. Because this was a Chorizo cooking class, we added chorizo to the chicken on this night. We really enjoyed the smoky chipotles paired with the spicy chorizo. And it’s not a heavy dish at all. If you replace the chicken thighs with chicken breast you would have a lighter, yet still flavorful dish with or without chorizo. And since the chorizo is homemade, you can control the fat content a little more and reduce the sodium content as well. One of my goals is to show people that many of the authentic foods of Mexico are simple and delicious.
Chicken and Chorizo with Zucchini
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 2 to matillos
- Olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup white onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper diced
- 2/3 cup uncooked mexican chorizo
- 1 to 2 chipotles in adobo minced
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. marjoram
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 1/2 cups zucchini diced
Instructions
Directions
- In a nonstick skillet at medium heat, roast the tomatoes and tomatillos on the stove top at medium heat until charred on most sides. Transfer to blender and blend until smooth, set aside. For easy clean up, line your pan with a little foil paper.
- Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and set aside. In a large skillet, preheat 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil to medium heat. Brown the chicken for 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan onto plate, set aside.
- In that same pan, add the onions, garlic and red bell pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the chorizo to one side and using a wooden spoon, crumble the chorizo as it cooks for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the sauce from blender, chipotles, tomato sauce and spices listed. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and taste for salt.
- Add the the chicken back in and push down gently into the sauce. Cover and continue to cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Now at this time, we can pull the chicken out and shred it or you can leave it as is. I shredded the chicken since we would be serving it on tostadas. Add the diced zucchini during the last ten minutes and spread out evenly over the top. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve over corn tostadas.
Notes
Other dishes prepared in my Chorizo Cooking Class
Chorizo Con Huevo!
https://pinaenlacocina.com/chorizo-con-huevoegg-with-mexican-chorizo/
Chorizo Rice-Arroz Con Chorizo
https://pinaenlacocina.com/stuck-on-jasmine-learning-to-cook-rice/
Some extra photos from the Chorizo Cooking Class!
My dear friend Sue is such a great cooking teacher too! I am so sad that she moved away, but I hope to visit her in her new location all the way out in North Carolina where she has opened her new Kitchen Store and continues teaching international cooking classes!
On this night, we prepared a very easy recipe for homemade Mexican chorizo using good, quality spices. You can use ground pork or ground breakfast sausage for this recipe. If using the plain ground pork, I would suggest letting it chill in the refrigerator for 2 days before using it.
https://pinaenlacocina.com/easy-mexican-style-chorizobreakfast-brunch-enchiladas/
And if there is Chorizo, there must be homemade Flour Tortillas that will follow!
https://pinaenlacocina.com/tortillas-a-staple-in-the-mexican-kitchen/
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Those photo look great as well as the tostadas. Question, would this be considered finger food? I put this on my list to make
Wayne, those tostadas are quite filling loaded with all those toppings. If you served it with a nice homemade tortilla chips, then I would consider it to be finger foods.
.BIG MISTAKE!!! Since there were only 2 of us I halved the recipe. Should have DOUBLED it. 🙂 No leftovers, and I bet they would have been better second time around.
We enjoyed it as written.
Wayne
That’s awesome Wayne! Thanks for sharing the feedback on the recipe with me. I appreciate it.
Hi Sonia-these look delicious! Could I substitute shrimp for the chicken?
I don’t see why not. Just add them during the last 5-6 minutes of cooking the dish.