Meat mains
Chorizo, kale & butterbean stew
Try to find cooking chorizo for this, it's slightly different to the cured kind that you would eat sliced as tapas, and will break up as it cooks. Any type of kale or spring/summer greens or a pointed cabbage would work in this dish.
Cook's notes
This bean, chorizo and kale stew, or 'big soup', as I like to call it, is one of my favourite dishes; tasty and uncomplicated – definitely my kind of cooking! I ring the changes, using different greens through the seasons. In late summer and early autumn, I'll swap dried or tinned beans for the fresh borlotti we grow for the vegboxes.
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 1 large or 2 small carrots
- 1 celery stick
- 1 garlic clove
- 300g chorizo sausages
- oil for frying, e.g. sunflower or light olive
- 200g curly kale
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp herbes de provence
- 1 tin tomatoes
- 250ml chicken stock pack
- 1 tin butterbeans
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Put a large pan of water on to boil. Peel and finely dice the onion and carrot. Wash and finely dice the celery. Peel and finely chop, crush, or grate the garlic clove. Chop each chorizo sausage into 4 pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan.
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Step 2
Add the chorizo and fry for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. The chorizo will break up a little and release its paprika juices. Add a splash of water to the pan if it looks like catching and burning on the bottom. Remove the chorizo to a plate and turn the heat to low.
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Step 3
Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pan and fry for 10 minutes, stirring now and then. Again, add a splash of water to the pan if it looks like catching. Meanwhile, wash the kale. Strip the leaves from their stalks, discard the stalks.
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Step 4
Once the large pan of water has come to the boil, add the kale leaves and boil for 3-4 minutes, until wilted. Drain into a colander and run under cold water to cool, then squeeze out any excess liquid. Chop up the leaves. After 10 minutes, add the garlic and tomato purée to the onion mixture.
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Step 5
Stir for 2 minutes. Return the chorizo to the same pan, along with the herbes de provence and tinned tomatoes. Add the chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring up to a simmer, then cook for 5 minutes. Rinse the butterbeans in a colander under cold water.
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Step 6
After 5 minutes, add the butterbeans and chopped kale to the chorizo pan. Stir and simmer for a further 5 minutes, adding a splash more stock if you'd like it more soupy. Check the seasoning before serving.