Olla podrida is a Spanish stew made from pork and beans and a wide variety of other meats and vegetables, often including chickpeas (garbanzo beans), chorizo sausage and chicken depending on the recipe used. The meal is traditionally prepared in a clay pot over several hours. It is eaten as a main course, sometimes as a single dish.

This recipe is a classic Culinary Institute of America recipe and one that we made in class this week while I was attending culinary classes in Hyde Park, N.Y. I think you will find this recipe quite delicious and filling and easy to prepare with a few simple ingredients.

For this recipe you will also see new measurements pertaining to weight and or volume. Please pay close attention to specific measurements, and remember if you start with quality ingredients you will finish with a quality soup.

- Scott C. Anderson is associate food service director and chef with Shepherd University dining services.

Olla podrida

8 weight ounces uncooked black-eyed beans
1 pound onion, medium diced

8 weight ounces celery, medium diced
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, finely minced

6 fluid ounces canola oil
4 weight ounces uncooked rice
1/2 teaspoon saffron, finely crushed

3 quarts chicken stock
8 weight ounces chicken, cooked, medium diced

4 weight ounces ham, cooked, medium diced
4 weight ounces chorizo sausage, thinly sliced (see cook's note)
8 weight ounces garbanzo beans, cooked

Simmer black-eyed beans in enough water to cover until cooked, about 2 hours. Reserve.

Saute onions, celery and garlic in oil in soup pot until onions turn translucent.

Add raw rice and saffron. Saute about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add chicken stock and simmer until rice is cooked.

Add chicken, ham, sausage and garbanzos. Heat until warmed through and stir in black-eyed beans, or place a spoonful of beans into the bottom of each soup cup and ladle soup over beans.

Cook's note: If chorizo sausage is not available, you can substitute Italian hot sausage.

- Courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America