1. Soak the lentils for half an hour. Even though small lentils in packets usually
don't need soaking, Spanish women tend to soak anyway
2. Cut the
ham and chorizo into dice-shaped pieces. Peel and wash the carrots and potatoes.
Slice the carrots and halve the potatoes (unless they are very small). Wash and
slice a small red pepper (optional).
3. Drain the lentils and put
them in a saucepan. Add enough water to cover them and add the ham, chorizo, carrots,
potatoes, bayleaf, pepper, parsley, a little salt, saffron and wine. Also add
the cloves if you want the lentils to have a slightly spicey air to them. Put
the pan over a low heat and cover.
4. Slice the onion and garlic
and fry, stirring all the time. After a minute or so, add the sliced red pepper.
This is optional and adds a slightly sweet flavour to the lentejas. When soft,
add to the other ingredients in the saucepan.
5. Let the lentil stew
simmer for at least 40 minutes. Boil off any excess liquid at the end.
Tips
and ideas: Spanish lentils
-
Vegetarian Spanish
lentils: To make a vegetarian version of Spanish lentil soup, just substitute
the chorizo and ham for more vegetables. We recommend adding a little celery (not
the leaves), 3 artichokes (without the stalk and outer leaves and cut into halves),
100gr wild mushrooms (if you can get any, otherwise normal ones, washed and sliced),
a sprig of rosemary, a piece of lemon peel and a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of
sweet paprika. Put all of these into the saucepan in step 3. You may also like
to add a vegtable stock cube.
- Try substituting the red wine for
a smaller amount of Spanish cognac.
- This Spanish lentil recipe freezes
very well, so make more than you need and then freeze portions.
- If you
can't get hold of any chorizo or serrano ham, substitute them with other types
of spicey sausage or cured ham. You could even use bacon although this will change
the traditional spanish lentils flavour.
