Cazuela

Ingredients

• 4 piecesbone-in beef shank (asado de tira or osobuco), about 250 g each
• 2 litrescold water
• 1onion, halved
• 4medium potatoes, peeled and left whole
• 4wedges of zapallo (winter squash), about 150 g each, skin on
• 2corn cobs, halved crosswise
• 100 ggreen beans, cut into batons
• 60 glong-grain rice, or a nest of angel hair pasta
• 1carrot, in thick rounds
• 1 tspsweet paprika
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspdried oregano
• Salt and black pepper

To finish

• 3 tbspchopped coriander
• 1 tbspchopped flat-leaf parsley
• Pebre or ají chilli sauce, to serve

Directions

1. Put the shank pieces in a large pot with the cold water and bring slowly to a bare simmer; starting cold draws out the collagen and gives a clear broth.
2. Skim off the grey foam carefully for the first 10 minutes, then add the onion halves, carrot, paprika, cumin, oregano and a good pinch of salt.
3. Simmer, barely bubbling and half-covered, for 1 hour 15 minutes until the meat is fork-tender and pulling from the bone. Never let it boil hard or the broth clouds.
4. Lift out and discard the onion halves. Add the whole potatoes and the corn cobs and simmer 15 minutes.
5. Add the squash wedges and the rice and cook 12–15 minutes more, until the potato takes a knife easily and the squash is soft but still holding its shape on the skin.
6. Add the green beans for the last 5 minutes so they stay bright.
7. Taste the broth and correct the salt; it should be light, clean and savoury rather than thick, and just cloudy from the squash.
8. Serve each person a deep bowl with a piece of shank, one potato, one squash wedge, half a corn cob and plenty of broth, showered with coriander and parsley, with pebre alongside.

Technique

• Cazuela is a clear stew, not a thickened one. Every vegetable goes in whole or in large pieces and is cooked in the broth so it stays identifiable in the bowl.
• The squash is the seasoning: as it softens it sweetens the broth and lends it its faint orange tinge. Leave the skin on so the wedge holds together.
• Timing is staged by density, which is why the potato goes in before the squash and the beans go in last.

Substitutions

• Cazuela de ave uses bone-in chicken thighs or a whole hen, cutting the first simmer to 40 minutes.
• If zapallo is unavailable, use crown prince or kabocha squash; butternut works but goes mushy faster, so add it 5 minutes later.

Variations

• Cazuela de pava, made with turkey, is a Christmas and New Year dish in central Chile.
• In the south the pot may include chuchoca (dried ground corn) stirred in to thicken it slightly.

History

A soup or stew combining meat, most often chicken or beef, with corn, potato, pumpkin and rice, developed in Chilean home cooking from a blend of Spanish colonial-era stew traditions and Indigenous Mapuche ingredients, particularly corn and squash, long cultivated in the region well before Spanish colonization began in the 1500s. Its name simply refers to the pot it is traditionally cooked and served in, rather than describing any specific recipe, and cazuela varies considerably by household and region in exactly which vegetables and cut of meat are used, without one version being treated as more correct than the many local variations. It remains one of the most common and enduringly popular everyday home-cooked meals across Chile.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cazuela?

Cazuela is a soup & stew from Chile: clear stew of beef or chicken with potato, squash, corn cob. A soup or stew combining meat, most often chicken or beef, with corn, potato, pumpkin and rice, developed in Chilean home cooking from a blend of Spanish colonial-era stew traditions and Indigenous Mapuche ingredients, particularly corn and squash, long cultivated in the region well before Spanish colonization began in the 1500s. Its name simply refers to the pot it is traditionally cooked and served in, rather than describing any specific recipe, and cazuela varies considerably by household and region in exactly which vegetables and cut of meat are used, without one version being treated as more correct than the many local variations. It remains one of the most common and enduringly popular everyday home-cooked meals across Chile.

How long does Cazuela take to make?

Cazuela takes 20 min of preparation and 1 hr 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Cazuela?

Yes, within limits. Cazuela de ave uses bone-in chicken thighs or a whole hen, cutting the first simmer to 40 minutes. If zapallo is unavailable, use crown prince or kabocha squash; butternut works but goes mushy faster, so add it 5 minutes later.

What is the most important thing to get right in Cazuela?

Simmer, barely bubbling and half-covered, for 1 hour 15 minutes until the meat is fork-tender and pulling from the bone. Never let it boil hard or the broth clouds.