Pork and Lentil stew with Chorizo, Pimentón & Tomatoes

So I’ve been watching Rick Stein in Spain for the past 4 weeks and wanted to make something this weekend from the series. Once, I started it however, I couldn’t resist tinkering with it and what was originally supposed to be lentil stew with pimentón that he made in episode 4, turned into that combined with the well known Andalucian Magra con Tomate (pork with tomato). So this is Pork and lentil stew with chorizo, pimentón & tomatoes. The pork is cooked really slowly so it crumbles in the mouth. I served it with a char-grilled onion bread to mop up the sauce.

As often with stews, I make too much and freeze portions. This batch got us dinner last night and 6 portions for the freezer.

Dessert was Adriaan Bartell's Raspberry Creme Brullee from the Cliff House Hotel cookbook. Love using my blowtorch!

Recipe

250g green lentils washed and hard boiled for 10 minutes to start the cooking process
1200g shoulder of pork cut into big cubes
6 large cloves of garlic sliced
2 large onions chopped
1 large carrot chopped in big dice
5 celery stalks diced
100g Serrano ham chopped
Glass of Sherry or wine
1 large chorizo (from Lidl) sliced into chunks
2 tins of tomatoes (I used tinned cherry ones)
3 tbps pimentón
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Method

Slowly soften the garlic in a few good glugs of olive oil for a few minutes
Add in the onion and let that get translucent and sweet
Add in the celery and carrot and soften that for a few minutes
Add in the Serrano ham and Chorizo and cook for another minute or 2
Increase the heat and add the pork and brown it slightly
Add the pimentón stirring to coat all the ingredients in this beautiful smoky powder
Tip in the glass of sherry and let that gather up all the paprika and cook out a little
Season for the first time
Finally add in the 2 tins of tomatoes and bring to the boil
Reduce the heat to just on and let it bubble very slowly for about 2 and a half hours
Let it cool a little and then check the seasoning