Spanish Chorizo Stew with Butter Beans and Chick Peas (Slow Cooker or Oven)

The days are getting colder and shorter. Summer is truly over. All dreams and fantasies we may have had for an 'Indian Summer' ended when we had to tear off the calendar page for September and stare October squarely in the face. As a result, thoughts start to turn to Autumnal food; typically for me, hot food which is warming and filling. 

So on a particularly grey and wet London day, I wanted to recall the heat and sunshine of Spain. I decided to pull the slow cooker out of its Summer semi-retirement and enlist it into action. Slow cookers are versatile, inexpensive to buy and cheap to run. You can put them on first thing in the morning and be greeted to a cooked meal when you get in, tired and exhausted at the end of the day. All it demands in return is a small amount of effort in preparation and set-up first thing in the morning. They are very popular in the USA where they are often called by their most famous brand name, 'Crockpot'. However, they appear to be less commonplace in the UK, which is a shame given that you can now get controllable models with more than one temperature setting, offering greater versatility than when I acquired my trusty Morphy Richards racing green model.

If you don't have a slow cooker, you could use a flameproof casserole dish (such as the French cast iron style ones). You will have to put the oven on, and the cooking time will be far less. I would guess at a temperature of 180°C, gas mark 4, and instead of putting on the slow cooker base, cook in the oven with the lid on for about an hour and a half to 2 hours (but don't quote me on this, since I didn't test it). Or if your slow cooker does not have a removable heatproof pan like mine, you may have to start the early cooking stages in a saucepan or frying pan on the hob. 

Your beans need to be soaked for at least 7 hours before you try making this recipe. Unless you have a pressure cooker! Or you could use a tin of chick peas and a tin of butter beans. I use tins for convenience fairly often, but the taste and texture of pulses is, to my palate, a little more satisfying if done yourself by soaking then boiling. But do whatever you have the time to do, because remembering to do the soaking and then having the time to do the boiling in the morning is quite a big ask. Especially if you have to make it into work at a sensible time! I made this on my 'preparation day' when I was preparing my civil litigation class at home. 

Spanish Chorizo Stew with Butter Beans and Chick Peas

Serves 4

Ingredients:

150g Butter beans, soaked overnight in a non-metallic bowl

150g chick peas, soaked overnight in a non-metallic bowl

2-3 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely diced

1 red pepper diced into 1cm dice

6 cloves garlic, very finely diced

Chorizo, sliced into 5mm thick rounds

1 Fennel bulb, halved lengthways and then sliced

2 chilis, halved along their length leaving the stalk attached

2 heaped tsp rosemary, very finely chopped

1 heaped tsp sage (6-7 leaves), very finely chopped

300-400ml chicken stock

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp flat leaf parley, chopped

Method:

Soak the chick peas and butter beans separately in 2 non-metallic bowls overnight - at least 7 hours.

Drain and rinse the soaked beans and chick peas separately. 

Put the beans and chick peas into separate pans, covering generously in cold water. Put on the heat. When boiling, set a timer and boil for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Start by heating the oil in the bottom of your slow cooker pan frying the onion and pepper for 5 minutes. 

Add the garlic and fry for another 3-5 minutes.

Now add the chorizo in a flameproof casserole over a low heat until the oil is released. 

This is what the contents of the pan will look like when you first add the chorizo:

This is what it will look like when the chorizo starts to release the paprika-infused oils and fats contained within it:

Add the fennel and fry for 5 minutes until it begins to soften. 

Add the beans, chick peas and tinned tomatoes, keeping on the heat so that you bring them from room temperature to the same temperature as the rest of the dish. Top up with the stock until all the ingredients are covered. Add the rosemary and sage. 

Now put onto the slow cooker base and cook for 7 hours on the main slow cooking setting. 

If you are cooking in the oven, place in the oven with the lid on. I think it will need about an hour, but it may need more. Test every now and then.

When the beans and chick peas are soft and tender, the dish is done. Serve in bowls topped with lots of freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.

Tuck in with some crusty bread.

Snigdha's Marrakech Lamb Stew

Sadly, my travel CV does not include Morocco. This is an omission which, if time and money will allow, I hope to rectify. That doesn't have to stop me enjoying the flavours of this fascinating country whose food is influenced by a wide range of cultures; Arabic, Berber, Moorish and of course, its neighbours around the Mediterranean. Moroccan food is more spicy than that of either the Mediterrean nations or the middle-east. Perhaps this is why it appeals to many in the UK, who have welcomed spicy food onto their tables and into their hearts.

Lamb is the favourite meat of the Moroccans, and given their talent for either marinading it or slow cooking it, I can see why. However, beef is the most frequently eaten meat owing to its lower cost. Most of us are familiar with the 'tagine'; a stew consisting of meat often cooked with fruits such as dried apricot, raisin or preserved lemons. What some may not know is that 'tagine', much like the word 'paella' in Spain, refers to the cooking dish rather than the food itself. A tagine is the two part cooking utensil consisting of a large circular base with a high lip where the food is placed and a conical lid with a hole in the top which acts like a chimney. The tagine is put on a stand over a small wood fire. Here in Europe, you can buy cast iron tagine pots (Le Creuset make a particularly attractive but somewhat costly one) which can go straight on the hob. If you go to Morocco and buy a traditional tagine, you cannot put it directly on the hob or the terracotta will crack and send your stew all over the place! You will need heat diffuser to go underneath it.

I don't own a tagine, my kitchen is only a medium sized one and is full of a huge amount of kitchen paraphernalia as it is. Given that Him Indoors and I cook regularly, the kitchen is heaving with utensils, gadgets and foodstuffs. I just can't keep it tidy, although it is always clean. So this stew has been cooked in a casserole dish. I don't think it suffers as a result, but would be interested to know if anyone has tried using a tagine as well as a casserole and whether there is any difference in flavour.

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

4 small onions, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 bay leaves

2 small sticks of cinnamon

½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp paprika

1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped

2 lamb shanks

1 aubergine, cut into half moon slices

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 teaspoon harissa

a little flour – for coating the lamb shanks

a little water – to loosen the stew if getting too thick

Salt

Ground black pepper

Some olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat your oven. You will need a temperature of 195°C for conventional oven or 175°C for a fan oven. This dish is best cooked in a flameproof casserole type dish like a cast iron casserole dish.
2. Firstly, heat some olive oil (about 2 tbsp) in the dish. As this is happening, lightly coat the lamb shanks in flour and when the oil is hot, add them in. When they are browned all over, remove them to a plate.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Add more olive oil and start frying the aubergine until browned. This is best done when the pan is good and hot, so that the aubergine doesn't soak up lots of oil when cooking. Cook in small batches so the pan doesn't cool down or get too congested. Place with the browned lamb when done.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add a little more olive oil (this is not diet food, I'm afraid!) and fry the onions for about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cinnamon and cook for another 4 minutes. Then add the puree and harissa, stir thoroughly to mix and cook for 3 minutes to cook the flavours out.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Add the tinned tomatoes, chick peas, salt and pepper (to taste) and some water if needed. You want the lamb completely covered by the stew so that it stews and doesn't roast instead. Turn the heat up and bring to the boil. 
   
   
   
    
6. Once you have done all of this, your work is almost done. Pop the casserole dish in the oven and put your feet up. The stew will be done in 1½-2 hours depending on your oven, size of dish, amount of fluid, etc. The stew will be ready when the lamb is so tender is practically falling off the bone. If that means putting it back in the oven for an extra 20-40 minutes, go ahead.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Serve with crusty bread, although couscous or rice will probably go well with the juicy sauce.