Tinga de Pollo con Chorizo y Papa (Chorizo Chicken Tinga with Potatoes)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes quartered, or 2 (15-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes ¼ pound (about 2) husked, rinsed, and quartered tomatillos
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 to 2 chipotle chiles in adobo finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons of the sauce, or more to taste (see testing note)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 pound Mexican chorizo casing removed and coarsely chopped (see testing note)
- 2 cups slivered white onions 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound red or Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice
- 6 cups shredded cooked chicken: roast your own or use rotisserie see testing note
Instructions
- Place the tomatoes (fresh or canned), tomatillos, broth, chipotles, and adobo sauce in a blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Do this in batches if necessary. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven or large deep skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook, using wooden spoons or a spatula to break it into smaller pieces, until it has browned and crisped. Transfer to a plate or bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the rendered fat in the pot.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are wilted and translucent and beginning to brown around the edges, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and beginning to color lightly, less than a minute.
- Stir in the chile-tomato purée, along with the bay leaves, oregano, marjoram, thyme, salt, and pepper, cover partially, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, cover partially, and cook for 10 more minutes, or until the sauce deepens in color to an earthier red and potatoes are soft.
- Add the chicken and chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken has absorbed almost all of the sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. The mixture should be moist but not runny.
Notes
Testing Notes: You can reduce the amount of chipotle chiles and adobo sauce if you want a milder mixture. Pati Jinich likes it spicy. The chorizo called for in this recipe is uncooked rather than cured. If you can’t find a Mexican variety, use Portuguese, Spanish, or whatever type of the spicy sausage your market carries, though not Italian. An average rotisserie chicken yields about 4 cups of white and dark meat, so you may need two for this recipe with some left over for another purpose.
Source: Treasures of the Mexican Table by Pati Jinich (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021, $35)
