Spoon food

Lentils with chorizo

Comida de cuchara, or “spoon food” is a collective term for the type of dishes that can literally been eaten with a spoon.  Usually eaten as the first course at lunch time, they are based around vegetables, pulses or carbs, frequently with ham or chorizo or other fatty meats used for flavour and richness.  These dishes are at the heart of everyday Spanish cooking, comforting and made from heatlhy, local, economical ingredients. I would usually rather have two primeros platos than a primero and a segundo, which is often a piece of meat or fish, cooked simply and served without much adornment.

This recipe for lentils with chorizo is an amalgamation of several Spanish dishes, with more ingredients than is traditional.  You could make a vegetarian version but for me (and the majority of Spanish cooks) there is something about the combination of pulses and pork fat that elevates each ingredient above its individual status.

This is a rustic, rugged dish so it just wouldn´t be right with homogenously diced vegetables, this is the perfect opportunity for haphazard chopping.

LENTEJAS CON CHORIZO (ANNA´S STYLE LENTILS WITH CHORIZO)

Ingredients (serves 4)

200g green lentils (preferably lentejas pardinas), washed and picked over for stones
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus extra to drizzle on to serve
2 fat cooking chorizos (the raw kind) sliced into chunks
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped or crushed
1 onion or leek, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly sliced
1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and cut into irregular sized chunks on the diagonal
3 medium sized potatoes ( these need to be quite waxy rather than floury, Galician potatoes are perfect, in the UK use Charlotte, Estima or Maris Peer for the best results)
250ml chicken or vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
a handful of fresh parsley, washed and finely chopped
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika (Pimentón de la Vera)
Salt and black pepper to season

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy based wooden pan over a medium heat.  Add the onions/leek, celery and garlic and sweat until soft and translucent.  Add the chorizo and fry until sealed and starting to brown.  Add the carrots and cook for 5 minutes before adding the lentils. Add stock.  If it doesn´t cover the ingredients, add more hot water.  Add bay leaves. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, before adding the potatoes.  Cover again and simmer for another 20-30 minutes, until the lentils, carrots and potatoes are soft but not falling apart.  Remove bay leaves, season with salt, pepper and paprika.  Serve in bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika and fresh parsley on each helping.  Delicious with crusty bread and a glass of young, unoaked tempranillo.