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

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in prosciutto and 2-3 tablespoons olive oil.
5. Serve with grated (or finely-chopped) hardboiled egg on top.

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.