The Butter Bean & The Chorizo

I made this stew for the 'welcome back' party of a dear friend who just came back from Spain.
I don't know what I was thinking with the chorizo. I bet he must be so fed up with it, but I guess I thought it would make him feel like home.
I also thought it would be a very heavy dish but it wasn't at all. It is a stew that -apart from the initial preparation, chopping etc- you can let it do it's own thing and just stir occasionally.


180g dried (or canned) butter beans
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
250g raw chorizo sausage (available at every good deli), cut into 5mm-thick diagonal slices
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
paprika
400g can chopped tomatoes
500ml chicken stock, hot
dried oregano
Grated zest of 1 lemon

Soak the butter beans in a bowl of water overnight.
The next day, place the beans in a saucepan and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring to the boil and simmer rapidly for 1 hour until just tender. Drain. You can always use tinned butter beans instead.
Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof casserole and fry the raw chorizo for 2-3 minutes until starting to brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion, garlic and paprika to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until the onion is beginning to soften.
Add the chopped tomatoes, stock, oregano and lemon zest and add the chorizo and beans to the casserole. Mix well, bring to the boil and simmer, partially covered, for 1¼ hours or until the sauce is thick and the beans are tender. Check the seasoning.
Serve with crusty bread and leaf salad and of course Rioja.

Fresh Courgette Spaghetti

People who call courgette, 'snozcumber' and refuse to even try it, do finally surrender to this simple but tasty combo.
It is one of the quickest and freshest recipes, really cheap too. I made it with gluten free spaghetti and vegetarian parmesan. You can add bacon for a non-veggie version.
• 3 medium courgettes grated
• zest and juice of half a lemon
• spaghetti
• grated parmesan
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 3 gloves of garlic
• Olive oil
• salt and pepper
• half a pot of crème fraîche
Put the spaghetti into boiling water along with the stock cube and 1 peeled garlic clove.
While the pasta is boiling, grate the courgette or ask your kitchen bitch to do it. Then grate the parmesan.
In a frying pan put the grated courgette and the rest of the garlic, finely chopped.
Cook for a few minutes, stirring, until just wilted.
Stir in the lemon zest and crème fraîche. Simmer for a few minutes – it will look quite runny. Season to taste and keep over a low heat.
Remove pasta from the pan, get rid of the garlic clove and drain well.
Return to the pan and add the courgette mixture. Toss well until the pasta has soaked up the sauce, then stir in the lemon juice and toss again. Serve hot with parmesan on top.

Peas In Tomato Sauce (Arakas Latheros)

This is indeed a lovely, hearty dish from home land.
It is also by far, my son's favorite food at the moment.
Here is how it goes. It is divine.

500g frozen peas
3 carrots sliced
2 small potatoes diced
1 onion finely chopped
1/4 bunch of dill finely chopped
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 can of peeled or chopped tomatoes
water

Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and sauté onion until translucent and soft. Add frozen peas and stir for a couple of minutes.
Add carrots and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add tomato and water, reduce heat and simmer until cooked, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water if necessary.
In the last ten minutes of cooking add the dill and an extra bit of olive oil.
Remember to mop the sauce in the end with bread, a fine activity known between Greeks as 'papara'.