Cazuela

A Spanish cazuela is a round earthenware vessel glazed all over except on the very bottom. Cazuelas come in a wide range of sizes, but for these recipes a ten, eleven-, or twelve-inch pan will be most handy. The cazuela is the real workhorse of this book, as it can stand in for all kinds of Mediterranean skillets and shallow pots and can be used in the oven and on top of the stove.

A cazuela should be started over low heat—set on a heat diffuser if your stove has electric or ceramic burners—for the first few minutes. Then the heat is gradually raised to medium or even medium-high.