KEY POINTS

Preparation Time:	15 minutes	Cooking Time:	40 minutes
How Difficult	Easy	Freeze?	No
	Servings	Four main meals

CHORIZO AND LENTIL STEW - COOK'S NOTES
With the exception of chilli flakes (which can be left out if you prefer) this stew is typically simple Northern Spanish food at its best. Use only real Spanish chorizo and never those pre-packed cubes of chorizo, they simply don't taste as good.

We have used the picante (spicy) variety of Spanish chorizo in this stew because it lives up the flavours considerably. This variety of chorizo is available in most large supermarkets.

This stew can be turned into a thick soup by simply adding the water reserved from cooking the lentils. Make it as thick or as liquid as you like.

We have used Puy lentils for this recipe because the top quality Pardina lentils from Spain are not available in supermarkets. If you have a Spanish deli shop near you then try to get hold of them if only for the taste of real Spanish lentils. But Puy lentils do the job very well, holding lots of texture and with a slight peppery taste.

The recipe and pictures below should be self-explanatory but we have also produced a video showing this recipe being cooked. It can be seen towards the end of this page.

INGREDIENTS

COOKING EQUIPMENT
A large frying pan.

PREPARATION
Peel the skin off the chorizo then cut into slices.
Top and tail the onion and garlic cloves, remove the skin and finely chop.
Roughly slice the water chestnuts.

METHOD

Add the lentils and bay leaves to a pan water and let them simmer for 25 minutes until they are cooked but still firm. While the lentils are cooking add the chorizo to a large frying pan with one tablespoon of olive oil. Fry the chorizo and chopped onion on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the onions have softened.

Next add the water chestnuts and chopped garlic frying the mixture for three more minutes.

Add the wine to the mixture, turn the heat up slightly and cook for eight minutes until the wine has reduced down. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato concentrate, chilli flakes (optional), pimento and stir well. Cook on a medium heat for 12 minutes.

When the lentils have cooked, drain off the water (keeping the water) and add the lentils to the the stew. Cook for a further 3 minutes to warm up the lentils. If you want a more soup-like dish simply add the liquid reserved from cooking the lentils.