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Spanish-Inspired Lentils with Chorizo

Lentils play a significant role in global cuisine, including Western countries such
as Spain. Within Spain, especially in the Northern part of the country, you will
often see lentils served with chorizo, where the dish is flavored entirely with
chorizo, a few humble vegetables, and perhaps a bit of added pimenton, also
known as Spanish paprika.
Here is Spain, there are two types of pimenton that you will find in almost every
pantry that you come across: (1) pimenton dulce, or sweet pimenton, and (2)
pimenton picante, or smoked pimenton. Neither variety is sweet, and pimenton
picante is much smokier than pimenton dulce. This pimenton is also the primary
flavoring spice used in the production of the chorizo itself.
In restaurant Kitchens throughout the world, the food that is made for the cooks
and staff is referred to as “family meal.” In restaurant kitchens in Northern Spain,
lentils with chorizo would be a very commonplace item to have prepared and
served for family meal to be shared among the members of the restaurant staff. It’s
economical, hearty, and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 links of cured (Asturian-style chorizo, large dice)
  • 6 cloves of garlic (whole)
  • ½ leek (finely sliced)
  • 2 sweet onions (medium dice)
  • 1 carrot (small dice)
  • 1 celery stalk (small dice)
  • ½ red bell pepper (small dice)
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • 3 tsp pimenton picante
  • 1.5 cups dried lentils
  • 4.25 cups water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
  • A fresh crusty loaf of bread (for serving)
  • More extra virgin olive oil (for serving)

Instructions 

  • Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to the bottom of a medium-sized pot.
  • Add the chorizo and increase the heat to medium.
  • Stir and cook for 3 minutes, or until the olive oil begins to take on some orange color from the chorizo.
  • Prepare your chopped vegetables.
  • Add the garlic, leeks, onions, carrot, carrot, celery, and diced red bell pepper to the pot with the chorizo.
  • Allow the vegetables to cook down with the chorizo for about 20 minutes.
  • Add the ¼ cup white wine and stir.
  • Continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until the liquid has almost completely evaporated.
  • Take half of your cooked vegetable mix, and remove the bits of chorizo.
  • *Put the chorizo back in the cooking pot.
  • Blend half of your vegetables using an immersion blender.
  • Return this blended vegetable mix back to the cooking pot.
  • Add the dried lentils, and stir to coat the lentils in the vegetable puree.
  • Add the 4.25 cups of cold water, along with the bay leaves and the 1 Tbsp of Kosher salt.
  • Bring the contents to a simmer, and then reduce the heat to low.
  • *Skim any scum that floats to the surface as the lentils are cooking.
  • Cook on low heat until the lentils are fully tender, about 1.5-2 hours.
  • Serve hot, with something like fresh cilantro as a garnish.
  • Make sure to serve these lentils with something like toasted bread, where you can dip the bread into the lentils, almost using the bread as your utensil.

Notes

This dish is almost better reheated for leftovers the following day. Be a bit careful when reheating, as the lentils are tender and can turn to mush if they are stirred too aggressively.