I made this up, well I say I made this up, but actually I ate a few meals that had a combination of some of these flavours and thought, "there are some things I can do with this".
Firstly, good chorizo is really important. If you buy it from the local Greek, Polish, Turkish, Indian, Pakistani shop on the corner or main street, it is not chorizo. I don't care what it says on the label. Kind of like when all the middle class Brits refer to soda bread on TV and my Irish wife gets on her very high horse and screams down from the clouds "that is WHEATEN BREAD!!!"
So this chorizo from the local shops is a super fatty, over salted, heavily dyed and chemically rich sausage. It lacks in proper paprika, let alone the smoked stuff and tastes like a sausage pumped full of chorizo crisp flavouring. Capiche? Don't touch it.
I found that Tesco's finest is the nicest I have seen on the mass market. Sainsburys do a passable own brand for half the price of Tesco, but it is also half the flavour (with more salt). In a recent study it said that all processed meat will kill you, so I suggest you cook this meal infrequently. I say that because when you do cook it and see how easy it is, yet how tasty it is, you will want it often. Go easy.
What is so nice about it? Well, firstly the paprika in the sausage and the tomato marry perfectly. (Buy a tin of La Chinata Smoked Paprika. They all sell it in their posh food or World Food sections and this stuff is the shizzit. Seriously, it rocks and needs to be owned. A 70g tin is like under two quid).
The background flavour of the garlic, onions, celery (yeah that again - if you don't like it you know what to do), and the wine is divine. Seriously. Then the additional flavour of the stock, sugar and herbs adds a body that is strong yet offset by the texture of the creamy new potatoes. Brappp!
Serves 6
2 x Tesco’s finest chorizo sausages chopped into disks about 3mm thick
2 packs new potatoes
2 large red onions diced or two bunches of sliced spring onions
3 cloves garlic chopped
3 sticks celery chopped fine
1/3 bottle of dry white wine
2 tins premium chopped tomatoes (basic ones can be used if you must)
3 bay leaves
2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp sugar
300 ml chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: either sliced greens, curly Kale, or mature spinach.
Cannelini beans instead of potatoes.
King prawns. Seriously, this works and the combo between the chorizo and prawns is stunning.
So how to cook it without buggering it up.
1. Boil the potatoes for 20 mins in salted water. Drain and leave to stand. (If they are large new potatoes, cut in half when they have cooled enough to be handled). While these are cooking, follow below.
2. Take a bigger pan like a Le Creuset or a large deep frying pan. Throw in a small amount of olive oil and fry off the sliced chorizo until it stars colouring the oil. Then throw in your onions and celery and sweat for 8 mins. Add a pinch of salt into the onions to stop them burning.
3. Chuck in white wine and cook off alcohol for at least 5 mins at medium heat. Then add in bay leaves, mixed herbs and smoked paprika. Stir for a minute and then add the tinned tomatoes. Sprinkle in the sugar and stir. Then add the potatoes to pan and top up with chicken stock.
Cook for 20-30 mins on a low bubble. Serve in bowls and mash new potatoes into juices. Some crusty bread is fabulous with this.
ALTERNATIVES
I have to add, that you can substitute the potatoes for a 3 tins of cannelini beans and it is healthier and still sumptuous. Also you can add in some washed kale or greens, prawns and beans in the last 5 mins, pack down and heat through. The leaves will need extra salt with them as they soak up some of the flavour and juices.
This is some lovely and quite quick family food that will warm the cockles and is genuinely equally nice with good red or white wine. I cannot decide. Enjoy and let me know if you do it.
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