The Umbrian stew: the fricco from Gubbio
The recipe for fricco di Gubbio: taste and tradition on the plate
Among the many regional recipes that our peninsula gives us, some are daughters of the same tradition but revisited based on the character of the region in which we find ourselves. For this recipe for a unique and tasty second course, we are in Umbria: a region of authentic flavors and dishes that always offer many emotions.
The recipe for the Umbrian stew - more precisely the fricco di Gubbio - contains mixed meats, generally chicken, rabbit and lamb, peeled tomatoes, mixed herbs and a lot of love. There are those who prefer to use just one type of meat, those who prepare it plain - without the addition of tomato - and those who add a particular touch with a hint of vinegar instead of wine. But, the result is always an Umbrian second course to be enjoyed with the whole family at Sunday lunch.
The meat friccò - or friccò di Gubbio - requires a lot of love and slow cooking - the real secret to blending all the aromas of the ingredients. If then, we use Italian meat that comes from farms that love animals or from farms that produce organic meat, in addition to the taste we will have the true quality of "made in Italy" food.
We have decided to present the recipe with only one type of meat, namely organic chicken, but you can also add other cuts of meat, paying close attention to the various cooking times. Let's see together how to prepare the meat fricco Umbrian stew recipe.
Umbrian stew with chicken
Chicken fricco ingredients
- 1 kg free-range chicken or organic chicken in parts
- 200 g of peeled tomatoes
- 80 g of bacon or pork belly cut into cubes
- 3 anchovies in oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 sprig of rosemary and sage
- 1 glass of white cooking wine
- capers to taste if you like
- meat broth to taste
- EVO oil to taste
- juniper berries to taste
- Salt and Pepper To Taste
Procedure for the Umbrian stew recipe
In a large pan, put a good amount of EVO oil and a crushed garlic clove. If you like a more pronounced flavour, you can also chop it finely. As soon as it heats up, add the rosemary, sage, half a spoonful of juniper berries, anchovies and capers if you like.
If we don't have the chicken in pieces, we proceed to cut it into very rough pieces, separating the main parts: wings, drumsticks, breast, etc.
After mixing well, we remove the garlic and also add our bacon - or bacon - cut into pieces. Let the fat melt, then add our chicken pieces, and raise the heat to medium. We mix and cook the chicken for a few minutes so as to have an initial browning and to create a crust.
Now add the white wine and, when the alcohol has evaporated, cook over a low heat for at least 30 minutes. If the meat dries out too much, add some ladles of meat broth. Keep the meat covered and turned well so that each part cooks.
After 30 minutes, add to our chicken the peeled tomatoes that we have previously mashed lightly with a fork. In the summer version, we can use fresh cherry tomatoes cut into quarters.
We mix and, if the cooking juice has softened too much, we add salt. Let it cook for another 10 - 15 minutes over low heat and stir frequently.
Our Umbrian stew is ready! Serve with a little of the cooking juices - the tastiest part - and serve nice and hot accompanied by fresh bread toasted in a pan or in the oven.
