I bought some beautiful handmade chorizo from the farmers markets on the weekend. The thing I love about chorizo is the way it adds so much flavour and a little meaty treat without the rigmarole of cooking and preparing meat. What better way to use them than in a Spanish chorizo and lentil stew!
This Spanish chorizo and lentil stew isn’t exactly a one pot wonder but it is super easy to cook. The vegetables can be roughly chopped and chucked into a roasting tray in a matter of minutes and thrown into the oven. Pour some lentils into a pot with some bay leaves and carrots and then sit back and watch it cook – or don’t watch it if you have something better to do.
This Spanish chorizo and lentil stew can be cooked in large quanitites and eaten for lunch the next day and like all stews it tastes even better the next day. And best of all this method of roasting the vegetables (and meat) before adding them to the pot can be used for all kinds of flavour of stew. Tomato, capsicum and cannellini bean stew. Or lamb chop, tomato, potato and carrot stew. lentil, bacon hock and tomato stew to name but a few.
Ingredients (serves 4):
150g puy lentils
500ml
3 fresh chorizo (can use cured chorizo as well but don’t roast as long)
2 potatoes
2 onions
1 bulb garlic
2 tbsp smoked paprika
2-4 red capsicum
1 carrot
1 can tomatoes (or even better roast 4 fresh ones)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp coriander powder
3 bay leaves
parsley or coriander to garnish
salt
pepper
Method:
In a pot add puy lentils, water, carrot, bay leaves, coriander and smoked paprika and bring to the boil. Once it has come to the boil reduce to a low heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Add in the tomatoes after 30minutes (if you are using canned tomatoes otherwise add roast tomatoes at the end along with the rest of the ingredients).
Quarter the potatoes and onions (don’t bother peeling)and slice the bottom off the bulb of garlic (don’t bother peeling). Add them all to a roasting dish along with the chorizo (add the chorizo after 20 min if you are using cured), capsicums and tomatoes if you are using fresh ones.
Drizzle of the olive oil with a generous amount of salt and pepper and put in an oven at 250°C bake and leave for 30-40 minutes.
Take the roast vegetables out of the oven and roughly dice. Squeeze the garlic out of its casing into the lentil pot. Cut the chorizo into pieces and add everything into the lentil pot. But before you do, check that there isn’t too much or too little water in the lentil pot. Adjust accordingly and then add the roast vegetables. Make sure you pour in all of the cooking juices and oil from the roasting dish – this will hold a lot of the flavour from the chorizo and add the fat that is needed in the stew.
Serve with sourdough toast, couscous or rice. This Spanish chorizo and lentil stew tastes even better the next day and can even be eaten cold with some bread for lunch. And it only takes about 10 minutes of your time to prepare.
