Chorizo and Chickpea Stew
I love cookbooks. I collect cookbooks. Sometimes, I read cookbooks in bed before going to sleep. I have been gratified in recent months to realize that a number of people also treat cookbooks as literature, but then I had this realization: I was only using them as literature.
Somehow, despite having already accrued 34 cookbooks here in Minneapolis (in addition to the maybe more than 100 I have at home in Berkeley), I never cook out of cookbooks anymore. Blame the internets. Somehow, somewhere along the way, cooking out of a book became a rarity for me, and one that seemed like a greater undertaking than pulling a recipe from the world wide webs. This was, of course, totally irrational: recipes from cookbooks don’t, by definition, take any more effort than recipes from the internet, plus most of the recipes I get from the internets came from books originally.
So, I decided to reacquaint myself with my cookbook shelves, beginning with this wonderful, Wonderful stew from my beloved, Beloved Jamie Oliver.
I love Jamie Oliver, and whether it is cool to love him or not, I don’t know, but I credit him with the beginnings of my interest in cooking. Well, him and my mom (who truly deserves the credit), but Jamie is the one who taught me that you don’t have to measure most things, that you don’t have to pull parsley or cilantro leaves off the stem, and that you can juice a lemon directly into a dish, using your fingers to catch the seeds.
His books are beautiful and lush, brimming with beautiful dishes that frequently avoid exact recipes, providing guidelines instead. And, most recently, he is doing really, really good work with school lunches and the obesity epidemic in America. And he has a show about all that coming out on abc! He is my hero.
He is my hero because of all the extra-good stuff he does, but he wouldn’t be able to do all that extra-good stuff if he hadn’t laid a foundation of really really delicious food. A Jamie Oliver recipe has never done me wrong, and this stew was no exception. Hearty, smoky, and easy-peasy, to last for days and only get better as leftovers (smokier, more complex). This is like a really upgraded chili, all the more classed up with chopped hardboiled egg as a garnish, for a little contrast. Go make it, tonight, from my cookbook to your computer, and perfect for this inbetween time of year that’s not quite winter and not quite spring.
Chorizo and Chickpea Stew
Adapted from Jamie’s Dinners
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 6 oz. chorizo sausage, chopped
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 clove of garlic (or more!), peeled and finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, chopped
- 2 bunches (maybe 1.5 lb) spinach, washed and chopped
- 1 – 28 oz. can tomatoes, with juice (either pre-diced, or you can chop them; also, JO calls for fresh tomatoes here, but it’s winter in Minnesota, and so that’s just not happening)
- 1 – 28 oz. can chickpeas, drained
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 2 oz. prosciutto (or Spanish ham)
- hard boiled eggs
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot. Add the chorizo. Cook for a few minutes until fat is rendered, then add onion, garlic, and celery. Reduce heat and cover, cooking for about 15 minutes (without coloring the onions, though no harm will really befall you if they get a little brown).
- Add spinach, tomatoes, chickpeas, and chicken stock. (Add more chicken stock or water if you think you need more liquid.) Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 40 minutes.
- You don’t have to (but I did): Remove about a third of the soup and puree it in the food processor. This will make things more stew-y, rather than soup-y. Return puree to pot and give everything a stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Remove from heat. Stir in prosciutto and 2-3 tablespoons olive oil.
- Serve with grated (or finely-chopped) hardboiled egg on top.
For some reason your RSS feed had disappeared this fall and so I’d missed the fact that you moved to Minneapolis. (Well, you and 34 cookbooks!) A belated welcome.
I used to save my new issues of Gourmet (RIP) for before bed reading. Now, like you, I tend to read cookbooks as literature, and use the internet for finding actual cooking recipes. I think for me a huge part of it has to do with the ease of finding the recipes. I have enough cookbooks that it’s simpler to search for the recipe I want than to dig through all my cookbooks, with the exception of super special recipes. So I’ve taken to saving special recipes on my computer because they’re easier to find. By searching my laptop for blueberry muffins, in less than 5 seconds I have my favorite recipe. If I’m on campus, I can get the ingredients list and stop at the store on my way home. With other cookbooks, I have recipes in both digital and hardcopy (Pioneer Woman, Jamie Oliver, Mark Bittman, etc). There are days when I want the hard copy, but most of the time the digital copy works just as well.
The one exception for me is bread. I always need a hard copy of bread recipes. I have to print out my online recipes, but even that feels dodgy. Give me my Reinhart hardcover splattered with water and flour any day.
I am the same way, I have a wonderful collection of cookbooks but I very rarely cook from them! I think it is because online I can find recommended recipes from bloggers I trust or from resources with reviews. When I try a new recipe I want to know that it will be good, with cookbook recipes I can’t always be assured of this. Some I trust more than others but I really should be more adventurous and give those unproven recipes a try. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, ladies! (And for the welcome.) Meg, isn’t it funny that we’ve come to trust a bunch of random people on epicurious more than an esteemed chef? I do it, too.
Katie, do you scan recipes from your cookbooks onto your computer? Or do you mean you save super-special recipes you find online? I think the Bread Baker’s Apprentice is going to be the next addition to my shelves, by the way. Also, I think we probably disappeared from your RSS because of our move to our own domain. Glad you’ve found us! (are you in minneapolis?)
I love the idea of putting hard-boiled eggs on top
I have an interesting mix. I don’t scan recipes, but my dad scans a lot to email me. He also types a lot out and sends them. He does this to make them easier for him to find, but then with a press of the button he can send them to me. I’ll also occasionally type out a recipe from a library book. Sometimes I’ll make a local copy of an online recipe as well. Bread Baker’s Apprentice is well-worth it. While my copy isn’t that well used my dad has made just about every recipe from it. The last recipe I made was a variation on a theme that he gave me (from the book). It’s a sourdough & yeast bread filled with caramelized onions and sharp cheddar. I really need to bake something this weekend.
Most of my online recipes come to me via Google reader. I star them and then if I’m looking for Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for some sort of spiced nuts, I can type spiced nuts into the search bar of google reader, narrow the search to starred (so I don’t get the recipes that looked iffy) and find it in a short period of time. Since I started reading food blogs I tend not to have to bother with epicurious because most of the time there’s a “oh, I just saw something that I have to make” that falls into the category of what I need/want to cook.
Something must have clicked with your domain name last week (or with google reader?) because all of a sudden I got a flood of posts. I’m glad to see you’re back. I am in Minneapolis, which is why I finally commented. I was surprised to see you in these parts, but I’ll reassure you that spring is coming, and with it the farmers markets, bike trails, and lakes. And, eventually, the tomatoes…
Claire,
I’m totally making this tonight. I happen to have in my freezer some leftover fresh chorizo (based on a Bayless recipe). I can’t wait for spring, but I’ll miss being able to make cold-weather dishes like this one!
I made this stew with a few amendments: I went with kale instead of spinach, and I added some sliced golden potatoes for the last 15 minutes of simmering. Because of the added structure of the potatoes and the kale I didn’t feel the need to puree any of it. It was great! Thanks, Claire.
Thanks for all your comments, guys!
Katie, I’m glad things kicked in for you. Michael, good to hear from you! And thanks for telling us about your modifications. This soup/stew is infinitely modifiable, I think. I’m really jealous of your fresh chorizo…
WOW – BLOG WORTHY FOR SURE. I used pre cooked bacon instead of perchuitto and mixed it right into the whole pot when it was almost done cooking on the stove. I even threw in the hard boiled egg too. So Yummy. I sprinkled some parm cheese on it before serving.
http://maryskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/2010/09/chorizo-and-chickpea-stew.html