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Chicken and chorizo ragu, Halal

Elena Silcock's chicken and chorizo ragu with Halal-certified beef chorizo in place of pork, Halal chicken thighs, smoked paprika, sundried tomatoes and lemon, slow-simmered until the chicken falls apart.

British · Main · Easy · 4 portions · 55 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The ragu starts by frying 120 g of cooking chorizo, which is ordinarily pork sausage, the chicken thighs need Halal slaughter, and the stock is a meat product.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Cooking chorizo: Ordinary chorizo is pork sausage, and the published recipe fries it first so its fat flavours the whole ragu. Use a beef chorizo with a Halal certifier's mark, as here. See Chorizo.
• Chicken thighs: Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides whether the meat is Halal. Buy from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.
• Chicken stock: Bought chicken stock is a meat product, and UK stock cubes such as OXO and Knorr contain meat fat that is not certified Halal. Use a Halal-certified stock or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.

Ingredients

Ragu

• 120 g Halal-certified beef chorizo, chopped (our swap for pork cooking chorizo)
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
• 80 g sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 600 g Halal skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 400 g can of chopped tomatoes
• 100 ml Halal chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 lemon, juiced

To serve (optional)

• to serve jacket potatoes
• to serve chopped parsley
• to serve soured cream

Method

1. Fry the chorizo. Fry the Halal chorizo over a medium heat in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole for 5 minutes, or until it releases its oil and starts to char at the edges.
2. Add the aromatics. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes more until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the paprika and sundried tomatoes.
3. Brown the chicken. Add the Halal chicken thighs and fry for 2 minutes each side, until well coated in the spices and beginning to brown.
4. Simmer. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and stock and turn the heat down. Cover and cook for 40 minutes, until the chicken is falling apart and the sauce is thick. Stir the lemon juice through.
5. Serve. Pile spoonfuls into hot jacket potatoes, scatter over parsley and add a dollop of soured cream, if you like.

Allergens

milk (soured cream, optional)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Chicken & chorizo ragu' by Elena Silcock (serves 4: 120 g chopped cooking chorizo fried 5 minutes until it releases its oil and chars at the edges; 1 chopped red onion for 5 minutes; 2 grated garlic cloves for 2 minutes; 1 tsp hot smoked paprika and 80 g roughly chopped sundried tomatoes; 600 g skinless, boneless chicken thighs fried 2 minutes each side; a 400 g can of chopped tomatoes and 100 ml chicken stock, covered and cooked 40 minutes; juice of 1 lemon stirred through; served in jacket potatoes with parsley and soured cream, optional). We specified Halal chicken thighs, Halal-certified beef chorizo for the pork chorizo, and a Halal or vegetable stock; the chorizo swap is ours. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph of a chicken cacciatore by Chris Bennett (CC BY 2.0), not the finished dish from this recipe.