Homemade lentils with chorizo

How to prepare a traditional style lentil recipe .

A grandmother’s stew that I have been making since I was little, and I say small because I started preparing them with my mother at 10-12 years old.

It is a simple recipe and worthy of kings, or it seems to me. The truth is that nothing richer than lentils for the onset of the cold and in addition to being delicious they are super nutritious.

Without a doubt one of my favorite dishes of the autumn, in this case they have that point of fat that the pork gives (chorizo, bone …), you can even opt for the version of lentils with pork rib .

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If you want them a little healthier, (suitable for diet), you have the vegetable version, delicious and healthy widowed lentils .

Not everyone likes them, as the saying goes ” He who wants to eat them and he who does not leave them ” but I think it is important to educate all children from a young age so that they like this stew by introducing it into the daily diet .

Although they take time, another point in favor is that you can make a casserole of them and freeze them. As long as you don’t add potatoes. I present this recipe that is almost done by itself, I hope you like it.

Before cooking lentils

1. One of the important steps is the choice of lentils. I use the most common, the extra brown lentil, found in any market or supermarket.
2. The best thing about this class of lentils is that they do not need soaking prior to cooking, although I usually do it to save cooking time.
3. We put the lentils in a bowl with cold water and leave them to soak overnight, normally 12 hours. It is not necessary to add salt at the time of soaking.
4. If for any reason you don’t have time you can do it directly. As long as they are brownish and do not forget to wash them to remove impurities. Just remember to cook them for 1/2 more hour.
5. The day after putting them to soak we remove the lentils that are floating in the water, they are usually not suitable for preparing the stew. Drain them and set aside until ready.

Preparation of lentils

1. Chop the onion, garlic and pepper into very small pieces so that they melt in the cooking.
2. At the end of cooking we will hardly notice any texture of any of the ingredients but its flavor. Since garlic many people do not like to find it on the plate, you can pour it whole and remove it halfway through cooking.
3. We peel the carrots and the tomatoes, if you do not want to peel the tomato nothing happens either, although you will find some skin residue.
4. Many people usually chop the carrot so that it does not remain hard in the cooking. It depends on the taste of each one but I can assure you that in an hour and a half it is perfect, in my case I like to cut it into thin sheets if the carrots are thin and in quarters if they are large. We chop the tomatoes into 2 parts.
5. In a saucepan, add a dash of oil, onions and garlic cloves. We fry everything for 10 minutes so that the flavors mix well.
6. Add the pepper, tomato, carrots, and bay leaf. We also fry for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the bones (ham and cane) and a generous tablespoon of La Vera paprika. With a dessert spoonful is enough, too much can become bitter.
8. If you like a spicy touch you can mix sweet and spicy paprika at the same level, they are very rich.
9. We remove with a wooden spoon quickly and add the lentils already drained and reserved.
10. We stir again so that everything comes together well. (3 minutes)

Final preparation. Traditional cooking or with an express pot.

1. We cover with cold water (important, so that it begins to boil slowly) until the casserole is almost full. Remember that we have to add more ingredients.
2. I like them with broth, if you want them thicker put a little less water. Then you can always rectify with hot water (so as not to break the cooking).
3. Let them boil and froth for a few minutes. We remove the foam that normally contains impurities, part of the meat remains.
4. When it takes 1/2 hour cooking we add salt and pepper to taste. It is important to taste the broth since we have added ham and they can be salty.
5. We add 2 sausages and a blood sausage (I do not usually throw bacon or bacon, because we do not eat it, but it gives it a good flavor).
6. Let them cook slowly over medium heat for the next half hour, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
7. Next we remove the sausages, the blood sausage and the bones so that they are less heavy.
8. The last half hour we cook the lentils over low heat, testing from time to time in case they do not need more cooking.
9. Another option is to make them in the express pot. Although I like slow cooking more than any other time I have done it like this, it depends on the time you have.
10. We will cook about 12 minutes if it is an express pot, or 25 minutes if it is normal. We can open it 5 minutes before time (resting before opening it) to see how they are. And if necessary, close and continue cooking.
11. To serve the best is a deep dish with the lentil stew and the chorizo ​​sliced ​​on top. I like the whole carrot but you can chop it.

Ah!  “Don’t forget to supervitaminate and look at yourself!”

If you still do not have it clear, I leave you a step by step in photos of this recipe for homemade lentils with chorizo . Do not miss any detail and they will be perfect.