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Basque Chicken & Chorizo: Slow Carb Dinner

Basque Chicken & Chorizo: Slow Carb Dinner
Home » Low Carb Lifestyle » Low carb dinner ideas » Chicken & chorizo skillet dinner

This robust dish of chicken, chorizo, peppers, onion and spices borrows from both Spain and France. It is a one-pot recipe made in a cast iron skillet and layers the flavors of each ingredient over each other. And….if you don’t include the rice or potatoes that often accompany it in Spain, it is compliant with a Slow Carb Diet.

Jump to: Recipe | What is Basque? | Spanish vs Mexican chorizo | Substitutions

Basque Chicken and Chorizo Skillet Saute
Basque Chicken and Chorizo Skillet Saute

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Basque country is often said to straddle the border between Spain and France. The Basque people actually inhabited the region before those nations existed, but once Spain and France entered the picture, they brought their regional cuisines with them.

My daughter was fortunate enough to do a study abroad program in Spain, and her parents were fortunate enough to visit her and eat the wonderful dishes of the Basque region.  This Basque chicken and chorizo dish was inspired by that trip, and it turned out delicious, even though made in Minnesota!

What is Basque Cooking?

The Basque cuisine includes both a coastal influence of fish and seafood as well as a robust inland cuisine dominated by fresh and cured meats, as well as many vegetables and legumes. Both the French and Spanish influence is strong, but the classic dishes are notably different on each side of the border.

Basques have incorporated ingredients from new settlers over time, like chocolate, potatoes, and various peppers. The Espelette pepper from France is strongly associated with Basque cooking and olive oil is the predominant oil used in cooking.

This recipe for Piperade is another classic Basque dish of tomatoes, onions, and peppers that is paired with many different meats or fish.

Basically the Basque cuisine is a local cuisine which draws from a rich, fertile inland area and a distinctive coastal area. Pork, lamb, game meats and lake fish are abundant in the inland countryside and a wide range of seafood makes up the cuisine from the coastal area.

All in all, It is a very old cuisine with many traditional recipes passed down from generation to generation.

Spanish Chorizo vs Mexican Chorizo?

Basque chorizo, chicken, peppers & artichoke skillet dinner
Basque chorizo, chicken, peppers & artichoke skillet dinner

The chorizo that is typically used in this dish is Spanish chorizo—small, dense, smoked sausages made from coarsely chopped fatty pork and seasoned with mild Spanish paprika, salt and garlic. When you see the deep red chorizo in the store, that is going to be the smoky Spanish version.

Alternatively, the Mexican version is fresh, raw pork which is typically seasoned with vinegar and a variety of chile peppers. Mexican chorizo can be quite complex with the brighter spiciness of chile peppers that are not smoked.

Mexican corizo and Spanish chorizo are indeed different flavor profiles, so they aren’t truly interchangeable. They are both excellent however and if your dish calls for Spanish and all there is in the store is Mexican, use it! You will still end up with a robust flavor-filled dish.

Substitutions for Basque Peppers

Bell peppers native to Mexico and Central America became a classic pepper used in Spanish cuisine. The French added a different kind of pepper to Basque cooking, a pepper called piment d’Espelette, or Espelette pepper. The Espelette pepper is sweet like the bell pepper, but also has a slightly smoky taste with a bit of heat.

I have grown the Espelette pepper on our farm, but it is not easy to find in an American grocery store. A substitute for this pepper would be to use sweet paprika with a little bit of a hotter pepper like cayenne.

Ingredients for Basque Chicken and Chorizo dinner
Ingredients for Basque Chicken and Chorizo dinner

Enjoy and please comment or share if you like this kind of content.

Recipe for Basque Chicken and Chorizo Dinner

Basque Chicken and Chorizo Skillet Dinner

Basque Chicken and Chorizo Skillet Saute
This is a skillet dinner with flavors from the Basque region of Northern Spain. It includes chicken, chorizo, olives, artichokes, sherry and spices. Delicious and slow carb compliant!
5 from 6 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 568

Ingredients

  • 6 oz chorizo sausage sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 3 large chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces (about 1 inch)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 12 oz roasted red peppers can be from a jar
  • 1 large onion sliced thinly or diced
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 Pound tomatoes diced (can use a jar of diced tomatoes if none are ripe)
  • 14 oz black olives drained and chopped
  • ¾ cup dry sherry
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • ¾ tsp crushed red pepper
  • 9 ounces artichoke hearts I used frozen

Instructions
 

  • Over medium-high heat, heat up a large skillet with deep sides. Add the chorizo to the skillet and lightly brown them for 3-5 minutes, rendering the fat. Transfer chorizo to a plate, leaving the fat in the skillet.
    6 oz chorizo sausage
  • Keeping the skillet at medium-high, add the oil and the chicken pieces to the skillet and cook, stirring or turning occasionally until just softened (about 5 minutes). Remove the chicken pieces to the plate with the chorizo.
    2 tbsp Olive oil, 3 large chicken breasts
  • Add the roasted peppers and sliced onions and cook until onions are translucent (about 3-5 minutes). Add the garlic, tomatoes, olives, dry sherry, paprika and crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute, scraping up any browned bits from the pan.
    Salt and pepper to taste
    1/2 tsp salt, 12 oz roasted red peppers, 1 large onion, 6 cloves garlic, 1 Pound tomatoes, 14 oz black olives, 3/4 cup dry sherry, 2 tsp paprika, 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper, 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • Return the chicken and chorizo to the skillet, cover, and turn the heat down to low. Simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes.
  • Add the quartered artichoke hearts, raise the heat to medium and cook uncovered until the sauce is slightly thickened (5-10 minutes).
    9 ounces artichoke hearts
  • If not on the SCD, serve with crusty French bread.

Video

Notes

**note that cured chorizo is very different from raw chorizo.  This recipe uses raw chorizo sausage and not the cured style.

Nutrition

Calories: 568kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 40gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 108mgSodium: 3459mgPotassium: 1198mgFiber: 8gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 3071IUVitamin C: 75mgCalcium: 144mgIron: 3mg
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Recipe Rating




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Wednesday 25th of May 2022

Excellent !

dorothy stainbrook

Thursday 26th of May 2022

Thank you for leaving a comment! It is quite helpful to know what is working and what is not.

Penny

Sunday 27th of March 2022

I am making this dish today and am wondering what type of onion works best? I have yellow cooking onions, red onion and white sweet onion.

Also, is there another alcohol substitute for dry sherry? I don't have any but I do have other liquors.

Thank you. Penny

Penny

Thursday 31st of March 2022

@dorothy stainbrook, I made this dish and it turned out great! I used dry white vermouth in place of the dry sherry. They yellow onions were perfect. Thank you for a delicious supper!! Penny

Penny

Sunday 27th of March 2022

@dorothy stainbrook,

Thank you so much for your quick reply! I will use yellow onions and dry white vermouth :)

Penny

dorothy stainbrook

Sunday 27th of March 2022

Hi Penny, Re the onions: the yellow onion is the all-purpose onion and has a balance astringency and sweet in their flavor, becoming sweeter the longer they cook.

White onions tend to have a sharper and more pungent flavor than yellow onions. They can be cooked just like yellow onions, but they tend to be more tender and so work well raw in things like salsas and chutneys.

Purple onions are similar to yellow onions in flavor, but their layers are slightly less tender and meaty. Purple onions are most often used for their color and relatively mild flavor.

Bottom line: any of the onions would work, but I’d go with the all-purpose yellow onions.

Re the dry sherry: you can sub in white vermouth or a dry white wine and it will be just fine.

Shelly Mendoza

Monday 13th of July 2020

This dish was very good. However was way too spicy hot. My husband who loves basque food couldn’t even eat that much of it. I cut the red pepper flakes by half also. Is there something I can next time to lower the heat of this dish without sacrificing the flavor?

dorothy stainbrook

Tuesday 14th of July 2020

Hi Shelly, and thank you for the comment. This dish has a lot of robust flavor to it and it does not suffer at all by removing all of the red pepper flakes. Most of the heat/spiciness is coming from the red pepper flakes, with a small amount from the smoked paprika. Leaving in the smoked paprika, or maybe adding a little bit more smoked paprika and removing the red pepper flakes should give you a dish that doesn’t sacrifice flavor but removes the heat. Just know that smoked paprika varies quite a bit from source to source. Most of it is mildly spicy, but you may run across some that is quite spicy. Give it a little taste before using. The red pepper flakes don’t vary that much in heat....they are fairly standaridized.

Basque Chicken and Chorizo – Slow Carb – Farm to Jar Food » webindex24.ch - News aus dem Web

Sunday 26th of October 2014

[…] Basque Chicken and Chorizo – Slow Carb – Farm to Jar Food […]

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