Spanish Lentil Stew (Lentejas con Chorizo)

Every Spanish household has a pot of lentejas in its weekly rotation. It’s the dish grandmothers make on a Monday, the one school cafeterias serve on Thursdays, and the one people ask for when they come home. Small brown lentils, a slow sofrito, a few slices of chorizo, and a potato. Nothing fancy, and nothing about it needs to be.

If you’ve made Patatas a la Riojana, most of this will feel familiar: same sofrito, same pimentón off the heat, same snapped potato. The lentils are what’s new, and they only need one thing from you, which is a gentle hand with the heat. Serve it with a hunk of Pan de Barra for the broth.

What You’re Learning

Lentils want a simmer, never a hard boil. A rolling boil tumbles the lentils against each other and against the pot, and their skins split open long before the centers are tender. You end up with a pot of mush around lentils that are still chalky inside. Bring the pot up just to a boil, then turn it right down so only a few lazy bubbles break the surface. At that pace the lentils cook through evenly and hold their shape. Small Spanish pardina lentils are especially good at this, and like all lentils they need no soaking.

A snapped potato thickens the broth for you. Spanish cooks call it cascar: cut partway into the potato with a knife, then twist and snap off each chunk instead of slicing all the way through. The rough, torn edges shed starch into the broth as they simmer, and that starch is what turns thin liquid into a stew with body. At the end, mashing a few pieces of potato and a spoonful of lentils against the side of the pot finishes the job. No flour, no roux.

Ingredients

Serves 6.

• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) pardina or small brown lentils
• 6 oz Spanish cooking chorizo (semi-cured chorizo para guisar), sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 green Italian frying pepper or 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 teaspoon sweet smoked pimentón (Spanish paprika)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled
• 6 cups cold water or light chicken broth
• Salt, to taste
• A splash of sherry vinegar, for serving (optional)

Method

1. Rinse the lentils. Rinse the lentils in a strainer under cold water and pick out any small stones or shriveled lentils. No soaking needed.
2. Build the sofrito. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, green pepper, and carrot and cook, stirring now and then, until soft and sweet, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the chorizo and garlic. Stir in the sliced chorizo and garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the chorizo releases its red fat into the oil.
4. Cook down the tomato. Halve the tomato and grate the cut sides on a box grater, pressing until only the skin is left in your hand. Discard the skin, add the grated tomato to the pot, and cook about 3 minutes, until it darkens and most of its liquid is gone.
5. Bloom the pimentón off the heat. Pull the pot off the burner and stir in the pimentón right away. Let it sizzle in the residual heat for about 10 seconds. Over direct heat it scorches and turns bitter.
6. Add the lentils, potato, and water. Return the pot to the heat. Add the lentils, bay leaf, and cold water. Cut partway into the potato with a knife and snap off rough 1-inch chunks straight into the pot.
7. Simmer gently. Bring just to a boil, then immediately lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender but still holding their shape, 25 to 35 minutes. If it gets too thick before the lentils are done, add a splash of hot water.
8. Thicken and season. Remove the bay leaf. With a wooden spoon, mash a few pieces of potato and a spoonful of lentils against the side of the pot and stir them back in. Season with salt, then let the stew rest off the heat for 5 minutes.
9. Serve. Ladle into bowls, add a few drops of sherry vinegar if you like, and serve with crusty bread.

Notes

• Pardina lentils are the traditional choice. Regular brown or green lentils work fine and may need 5 to 10 extra minutes. Skip red lentils here, they fall apart into a purée.
• Use a cooking chorizo, not the dry sliceable kind. It needs to render its fat and pimentón into the broth. Homemade Chorizo Fresco works too, rolled into small balls and browned in step 3. Our Spanish Charcuterie Guide explains the difference.
• Keep the heat low once it simmers. A hard boil splits the lentil skins and turns the stew muddy.
• Lentejas are better the next day. The stew thickens a lot overnight in the fridge. Loosen it with a splash of water when you reheat.
• For a meatless version, leave out the chorizo and add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of pimentón and another tablespoon of olive oil. In Spain these are called lentejas viudas, “widowed lentils.”
• The sherry vinegar is worth it. A few drops at the table brighten the whole bowl, and it’s how a lot of Spanish families finish theirs.