warm chorizo & bean salad

dear Miss K, I’m glad you still use this one – thanks for reminding me about it. iit’s a bastardised version of a recipe i read in a magazine in a cafe about a hundred years ago; i scribbled the recipe onto a napkin but of course lost it long since. it used to be a fave because it’s embarrassingly easy to make but tasty and good. tips: always keep a can or two of canellini beans in the cupboard. don’t forget the tomatoes.

(and if you like this, when winter comes try out the soup version…)

the following quantity is for 1 person; multiply quantities by number of hungry guests.

1 chorizo sausage, diced

1 can canellini beans, drained

1 large ripe tomato, diced

good sized bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

tbsp good quality extra-virgin olive oil

1-2 tbsp red balsamic vinegar

coarse-ground pepper, to taste

fry the chorizo in a dab of oil in a non-stick pan until browned. add the tomato and beans, and gently cook until warm. stir the parsley through, then add the oil, vinegar and pepper. serve immediately.

try these variations:

use leg ham instead of chorizo (a good option after christmas when you’ve got to do something with all that leftover ham!), or indeed any other kind of preserved sausage or smoked meat

try another kind of white bean, eg. butter beans

substitute the parsley with fresh basil for a completely different flavour

chorizo and bean soup

believe it or not, this is based on a recipe for a salad i saw in a Vogue Entertainment magazine while sitting in a cafe about 6 years ago.  you admired it over lunch, so here it is.

1 can roma tomatoes
1 can canellini beans
2 chorizo sausages
1 onion
garlic to taste
6 mushrooms
an extra vegetable: choose from 1/2 zuccini, a couple of cauliflower florets, a handful of green beans
good handful of flatleaf (continental) parsley, chopped
olive oil
white wine
water

chop the onion and garlic finely.

cut the chorizo into small chunks (suggest you quarter each sausage lengthwise, and then chop).

crush or chop the tinned tomatoes.

drain the beans and cut the mushrooms and your random extra vegetable into rustic chunks.

fry the onion and garlic on medium heat in a dash of olive oil until clear, and then add the chorizo and fry until it browns a little. Throw in a dash of white wine to deglaze.

add the mushrooms and random extra veg and allow to soften briefly.

add the tomatos, and enough water to create the soupy consistency you like best.

bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 20 mins.

add the drained beans, and more water if needed, cover again and simmer for another 10 minutes.

add chopped flatleaf parsley and stir through, and remove soup from heat. Serve.

Feeds: at least 2 hungry folk

Notes: You can add salt if you like, but it doesn’t really need it. Ditto for bread. Sorry there’s no picture. Next time I make it, I’ll add one.