Family Favourite Chorizo, Chickpea and Spinach stew

This recipe is a much simplified version of the one in Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes. I loved the idea but never remembered to soak the chickpeas overnight and he boils them for hours to make vegetable stock for which I never had time so I adapted it. Both my 2 year old and partner love this (it’s the only time my son will devour spinach) and I make it at least once a week. It’s a good idea to invest as much as possible in the quality of the chorizo. I started out making it with the cheapish, pre-sliced stuff that comes in plastic boxesand I have to say that it tastes infinitely better when I spend a little more and buy a whole sausage from the deli counter. I’m planning an excursion to Borough Msrket some time soon to buy a chorizo from Brindisa  to see just how much of a difference the chorizo can make. The rest of the ingredients are quite cheap – you’re talking £3 top for a tin of chickpeas, a bag of spinach and a tin of tomatoes. I serve it with a thick wedge of bread – the ‘French’ loaf setting on the bread machine makes a really good, crusty bread with a texture a bit like baguette which really works with this dish and makes very nice toast too. If you’re a vegetarian, you could experiment with using tofu, or better, smoked tofu and adding a bit of paprika to the onions at the beginning. I’ve no idea how that would turn out but it sounds right.

Time needed: 10-15 mins to put together + 30 mins to cook

Storage: This stew will keep in a Tupperware in the fridge for a day so you can make it in advance and it freezes well too.

Portions: The ingredients below make enough stew to feed my partner (who eats a lot), a hungry me as well as my 2 year old with usually enough leftover for his lunch the next day too.

What you'll need

1 tin of chickpeas

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

100 grams of chorizo sausage

1 onion

1 bag of spinach

How to make it

1. Put a largish frying pan (28-30cm

diameter) with a couple of tablespoons of

olive oil on a  low heat.

2. Chop the onion quite finely and put it in the pan with a sprinkle a bit of salt to stop it burning.

3. Leave it to fry gently until it is soft and translucent, about 7 mins. In the meantime, take the skin off the chorizo and cut it into bitesize chunks. Add these to the frying pan with the onion and let it cook until the oil turns orange (that’s the paprika in the chorizo coming out), another 5 mins.

4. Add the drained chickpeas and the chopped tomatoes and give it a stir.

5. Fill the empty tin of tomatoes with some water, and if you have some, a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder).

6. Simmer uncovered on a low heat so the stew is just bubbling away for 20 minutes then turn the heat off. At this point, most of the stock will have evaporated but you should have a more liquid tomatoe sauce than you’d have for pasta.

7. Toss in the spinach and put a lid on the pan so that it wilts in the steam and barely cooks through. This will take 5 or so minutes. Don’t worry if the mound of spinach looks like it won’t fit – it reduces to nothing! If you really haven’t got enough room add half and then add the rest a few minutes later when it’s wilted and there’s more space. If you are making the stew ahead, then leave out the spinach and add it only when the stew is reheated and ready to eat. The spinach stays fresher that way.