Cod & chorizo

For ➍

1 fennel bulb, halved & thinly sliced, fronds reserved (about 200-250 g)

140 g Spanish chorizo, cut into 1 cm slices 

4 skinless cod fillets (each 120 g) 

salt & freshly ground pepper 

85 g cherry tomatoes, halved, or quartered if large

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 tbs unsalted butter 

10 cl dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

1 small orange 

extra-virgin olive oil & toasted sliced baguette, for serving

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Fold 4 30x40 cm pieces of parchment (or aluminum) in half; unfold and place one-quarter of fennel and chorizo along each crease. 

Season both sides of fish with salt and pepper; place one fillet on each package. 

Top with tomatoes, garlic, butter, and wine. 

Remove zest from orange with a vegetable peeler. Thinly slice into strips to yield 1 tbs. Scatter evenly among packages. Squeeze 1 ts juice over each package. 

Fold parchment over to enclose, making small overlapping folds along edges to seal. 

Transfer to 2 rimmed baking sheets. Roast until parchment puffs and fish is cooked through, for 20 m. 

Place each package in a shallow bowl and open carefully, allowing steam to escape. 

Serve with fennel fronds, a drizzle of oil, and toasts.

Cannellini soup with garlic & parsley

For ➍-➏
8 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 ts chopped garlic
350 g cooked cannellini or other white beans, from dried beans (recommended)*
salt & black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
25 cl homemade beef stock or water**
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
thick grilled or toasted slices of crusty bread (optional)

Put the oil and chopped garlic in a soup pot and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the garlic, stirring it, until is becomes colored a very pale gold. Add the drained cooked or canned beans, a pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Cover and simmer gently for 5 to 6 m.
Take about 100 g of beans from the pot and puree them through a food mill back into the pot, together with all the broth.
Alternately, use a blender, loosening with a bit of the broth. Simmer for another 5 to 6 m, taste, and correct for salt and pepper. Swirl in the chopped parsley, and turn off the heat.
Ladle over the grilled bread slices into individual soup bowls.

*cannellini bean = white kidney bean = fazolia bean
For dried beans, soak them in lots of cold water for a minimum of 5 h. Drain and rinse, then put them in a large pan, cover with 5 cm of cold water, bring to the boil, scoop off any foam, then boil for a further 10 m. Scoop the foam off again, then add just a little salt (too much salt before they're cooked will harden the skin, as will anything acidic like lemon juice or tomatoes), and simmer gently with the pan lid half on for 1 to 1.5 h, until tender. Keep an eye on the water level, and add more if necessary.
**Use a little less water or broth (5 cl) and oil (2 tbs) to make a thicker mash that can be served as a side dish with roast white fish, spicy chorizo and grilled scallop, or spread on thick bread.

Sautéed mussels & chorizo

For ➍
4 tomatoes
1 shallot
1 kg of mussels
curry powder
piment d'Espelette or cayenne pepper
olive oil
salt & pepper
150 g chorizo
fresh herbs: basil, parsley etc.

Cut the tomatoes into brunoise and chop the shallot. Cut the chorizo into sticks.
Heat a pan with olive oil until it is very hot. Add the mussels, chorizo, shallots and tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Season with the curry and cayenne pepper or piment d'Espelette.
Bake for a few m.
Add the chopped herbs. Serve with good bread.

Roasted Brussels sprouts with chorizo

For ➏
olive oil
200 g chorizo
6 cloves garlic
1 tbs sherry vinegar
800 g Brussels sprouts
sea salt

Cut the Brussels sprouts in half and place them into a pan of salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes to soften. After 1-2 m drain the sprouts and refresh them by running them under cold water. Put to the side.
Take a sharp knife and run it down the length of the chorizo gently so as to just cut the skin. Peel back the skin until it is all removed. Cut the chorizo into thin slices on an angle to get a large surface area, this will help the chorizo to crisp up when frying. Place about 2 ts of olive oil into a large frying pan on a low to medium heat and add the chorizo slices.
Take 6 cloves of garlic and using the flat of your knife crush them slightly. Keep moving your chorizo around in the pan to ensure the pieces get cooked evenly. Add your garlic cloves to the pan and toss all the ingredients together. Leave to cook until the garlic becomes crispy. Add the sherry vinegar into the pan followed by the Brussels sprouts. Give your ingredients a good mix in the pan to ensure everything gets well combined. Lastly season with a pinch of sea salt and then leave to cook for a few m moving the ingredients around the whole time.
Once your sprouts are beginning to get cooked remove the pan from the heat and place the ingredients into a baking dish. Place the dish in the oven for 15 m until the sprouts are just cooked through but still have a bit of crunch.
Serve.

Read the Asian inspired roasted Brussels sprouts recipe.
Read the tip on cooking sprouts.

Stamppot van peterselie & prei (parsley & leeks mash with chorizo ​​& poached egg)

For ➍
400 g mushy potatoes
150 g chorizo ​​sausage
1 dash white wine vinegar
4 fresh eggs
½ leek
½ bundle of parsley
20 cl warm milk
30 g butter
pepper, salt, nutmeg

Peel the potatoes, boil until tender in salt water.
Cut chorizo ​​into small cubes and fry in a pan. Place on paper towels.
Bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the vinegar. Break an egg into a ladle. Put the spoon in boiling water and turn the spoon gently so the egg floats in water. Poach for 3 m and remove with a slotted spoon. Place on paper towels. Poach the other eggs.
Cut leek into rounds. Wash and chop the parsley.
Cook the leek with the potatoes for 5 m. Pour away the water. Add milk, butter, pepper, salt and nutmeg. Mash. Add chorizo ​​and parsley, stir.
Put mash in round forms, put on a plate, remove the forms. Put the poached egg on the stew. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Pollo a la Riojana (Rioja chicken)

For ➍
1 chicken, cut in 8 pieces*
1 yellow onion, peeled
2 cloves garlic
2 red peppers
1 Spanish (sweet) chorizo sausage
3-4 tbs olive oil
2-3 sprigs parsley
20 cl white wine
20 cl chicken broth
200 g peas, drained (canned or frozen)**
salt & pepper

Peel and chop the onion. Peel the garlic and cut into thin slices. Remove the stems and seeds and cut the red peppers into strips. Slice the chorizo into rounds. Chop the parsley.
Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot with a couple tbs of olive oil. Brown the chicken in the pot on both sides.*** Remove pot from heat and set aside.
While the chicken is browning in the pot, heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent. Add parsley, peppers, chorizo***. Cook, stirring often for about 10 m.
Add vegetables to the large pot of chicken and mix. Add white wine and chicken broth. Stir. Cover and simmer for 30-40 m. About 5 m before removing chicken from stove, add peas.
Serve with bread or potato wedges and a glass of full-bodied Spanish red wine.
Let it cool. Cut the chicken piece into smaller chunks and serve, at room temperature, as a salad.

*Or 8 pieces of legs and breasts.
**Use chickpeas instead.
***Put chorizo into the pot before the chicken, allowing the chicken to take the colour. Add other ingredients after removing chicken pieces.

This winter dish from the northern Spanish region of Rioja works well in any season. Try another chicken & chorizo combination.

Chicken with chorizo & potatoes

For ➍
2 tbs olive oil
12 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
750 g baby (sweet) chorizo sausages, or 4 cm chunks*
1 kg spring potatoes, halved
2 red onions, peeled & roughly chopped
2 ts dried oregano
1 untreated orange, grated zest only

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Pour 1 tbs of the oil into each of 2 shallow roasting tins. Place 6 chicken thighs into each tin. Rub the skin of the chicken thighs in the oil, then turn them skin-side up. Divide the chorizo sausages and the new potatoes between the tins. Sprinkle the onion and the oregano over, then sprinkle the grated orange zest over the contents. Cook in the oven for 1 h, swapping the top tray with the bottom tray after 30 ms and basting the contents with the orange-coloured juices.

Serve with a green salad.

*When using chunks, add the chorizo pieces after 30 m to avoid over-cooking.

Try an oven-cooked chorizo & chicken combination.

Chorizo & rice

For ➍
250 g cherry tomatoes
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbs olive oil
300 g Arborio rice
4 chicken thigh fillets, halved*
200 g sweet chorizo, thickly cubed**
2 ts chopped fresh rosemary
1 l hot chicken stock
pinch saffron strands***
8 large, raw prawns*
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 220°C. Place the cherry tomatoes in a roasting tin and sprinkle over the red onion, garlic and olive oil. Roast for 20 m until the tomatoes are softened.

Stir in the rice, chicken, chorizo**, rosemary, chicken stock, saffron and some salt and pepper, mixing well together. Return to the oven for 20 m.

Stir in the prawns and return to the oven for a further 10 m until the rice is tender and the chicken cooked through.

Serve with a strong full-bodied red wine.

*Alternatively, cook on stove top. Omit the tomatoes, fry the onions in olive oil, add the rice with only the chorizo. Omit the prawns and add thickly cubed slices of pata negra (or very good bacon) for the last few minutes of cooking. Serve with baked tomatoes as a side-dish.
**For a less pronounced peppery taste of the dish, bake the chorizo cubes in some oil and add to the finished dish. Or put the chorizo cubes in some milk for 15 m to diminish the spicy taste.
***Optional.

Read the tip on making a quick rice dish.