Paprika and Potatoes
If you are like me, you have a barely-touched jar, or dozen, of spices that you rarely have occasion to use. Last week I realized that I had a humongous amount of paprika sitting around, so I googled paprika and its uses in cooking. I was happy to learn that this spice is a frequent feature of Spanish cuisine and is often used to give a nice “kick” to potatoes, a pound of which I’d just bought from the Greenmarket.
After looking over several recipes for Spanish style potatoes with paprika, I devised a cooking plan that seemed both easy and sure to guarantee delicious results (it did). Here are the ingredients and the basic strategy…
The Essentials:
1-1.5 lb potatoes- I think any kind of potato will do
Olive oil
1 large onion
2/3 cloves garlic
2 red bell peppers
1 tbsp paprika
Salt
1/2 lb chorizo (yummy Spanish sausage)
1/2 cup white wine
The Game Plan
1) Get the chopping out of the way
Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes roughly inch-long sides
Mince or chop the garlic into small pieces
Chop the onion and bell pepper into fine slices
Chop the chorizo into thin, inch-long strips
2) The fun part- cooking above ingredients
Heat some oil on high in a large skillet, enough to brush (but not soak) all of your potatoes. Add potatoes and turn down to medium high. Cook about 10 minutes or until golden-brown, stirring occasionally. Add onion and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes or until onion is slightly brown, stirring frequently. Stir in bell peppers, paprika, and salt (I’d just give a good shake of salt, more or less, depending on your preferences). Cook for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in chorizo and white wine. Cook for a few minutes, or until wine is slightly reduced. Then, add enough water to cover all the vegetables and bring to a boil. Once the water is solidly boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the potatoes are tender- should take about 10-15 minutes.
3) Eat. Preferably with a nice crusty bread for mopping up.
looks good…having the rest of the wine to go along with it would really elevate that meal.
Oh I love this kind of dish. I do something similar but using sherry instead of wine and substituting a bay leaf for the paprika. Perfect weeknight meal!