This chickpea stew owes its speed and flavor to the sausage. It infuses a thick sauce with a rich flavor, and taking a bite out of a big hunk of browned sausage may be the best thing to happen to you today. Put sausage in everything! !
A quick-to-make chorizo chickpea stew
I know you usually associate the word “simmer” with hours of slow cooking. But in today’s dish, simmered for 15 minutes, the end result looks like a stew to me. So while it only took us a fraction of the time to do it, I’m sticking to the name!
Despite the speed, you will not feel the flavors stripped of all imagination thanks to the chorizo, protagonist of today’s dish, a small Spanish chorizo with a strong taste. (sorry chickpeas, but it’s true).
We sauté the sliced sausages until browned, then fry them in a tomato stew sauce for 15 minutes to infuse the sausage flavor into the sauce. The chickpeas add bulk and texture to the dish, and I love how they absorb the flavor of the sausage too!
What you need
Here’s what you need for this chorizo chickpea stew:
- Chorizo – The well seasoned cured sausage from Spain is the hero of the dish today (sorry chickpeas!). You get great bang for your buck with chorizo – so much flavour packed into a little sausage. Find them at the deli or in the cured meats section of the fridge. Alternatives – Any smoked sausage (like kranskey’s, German sausages etc). Tip – Get extra and make everybody’s favourite smoked sausage and rice, or a big paella!
- Chickpeas – We’re just going canned today, for convenience, for this quick ‘n easy meal. Just crack open that can!
- Crushed tomato – This is already kind of smushed so it breaks down more easily into a thick sauce compared to, say, diced tomato which has larger chunks. Diced tomato will work too though, you just may want to simmer for a bit longer to let them break down a bit. If you only have whole canned tomato, crush them with your hands or use a potato masher before putting the pot.
- Chicken stock/broth – I like to use low sodium so I can control the salt in this. We do get quite a bit of salt from the chorizo so it really is better to use low-salt stock.Vegetable stock also works, but chicken stock does give the stew sauce deeper flavour.
- Bay leaf, thyme and smoked paprika – Herb and spice flavours for the sauce. Sautéed with the chorizo to bring out toasty flavour before adding the liquids. Great trick to get more flavour into your dishes – toast those herbs and spices!
- Garlic – This dish was never going to happen without garlic!
How to make chorizo chickpea stew
Simmer for a stir-fry-like effect! Alright, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. It takes longer than jumping. But it’s so much faster than a traditional stew! !
- Sauté chorizo slices in a little oil until beautifully golden and caramelised. Don’t be tempted to shortcut this step! The chorizo tastes so much better when it’s browned, plus we want to coax the tasty highly flavourful oil out of the chorizo so it can flavour everything else in this dish!
- Sauté herbs & spices – Once the chorizo is golden, add the bay leaf, thyme and paprika. Toast it for a minute, inhaling deeply to enjoy the smell! It really is so good. (Oh, and we toast the herbs and spices to bring extra flavour out of them. Not just so we can enjoy the smell! ).
- Add everything else – Add the chickpeas, tomato, chicken stock, salt and pepper, then give it all a good stir.
- Simmer for 15 minutes with the lid off until the sauce thickens. Then that’s it! Ready to serve.
Serve with crusty bread for a quick and easy meal (suggestion: everyone’s favorite crusty no-knead artisan bread), or pour over flatbread.
Alternatively, serve with a starch of choice such as mashed potatoes (chopped cauliflower for a low carb option), couscous or small pasta (eg orzo/risotto, orecchiette, penne).
For a quick salad or veggie side, use whatever veggies you have in the fridge, raw or steamed, and toss them with my everyday dressing. Or browse all the vegetarian sides to find something to inspire!
Dinner.
Completed. How fast is that? ? ? Wait to taste it!
You’ll be amazed at how many flavors can be packed into this one jar of deliciousness in such a simple dish.
It’s the magic of sausages. So much energy packed into a little sausage.
