🇪🇸 Spain · Castilla y León, La Rioja and throughout

LentejasSpanish lentil stew

Name: Lentejas (Spanish lentil stew)
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 500 g (2 1/2 cups) pardina lentils, rinsed and picked over; soaking up to 12 hours is optional and shortens the cooking; 1 chorizo (cooking chorizo, about 200 g / 7 oz), whole, to be sliced at the end; 1 morcilla (onion blood sausage), optional, as in the Hola recipe; 60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil, our estimate; the source gives no amount; 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped; 1 leek, cleaned and chopped; 2 carrots, peeled and diced; 1 each red and green pepper, diced; 2 bay leaves; 1 tbsp pimentón (Spanish paprika), sweet or smoked; 200 g (7 oz) crushed tomato; 1 ham bone, optional, for depth; about 1.5 liters (6 cups) water, enough to cover the lentils by about 3 cm / 1 in; salt, to taste

A Spanish plato de cuchara (spoon dish) of whole lentils stewed with chorizo, onion, carrot, pepper, garlic, bay and pimentón, brothy rather than dry.

Origin and history

Foods & Wines from Spain says lentils have been grown in Spain since Roman times and grew in importance in the Middle Ages; they appear in Don Quixote, where the character eats them on Fridays, when meat was avoided. It describes them as a classic plato de cuchara, a hearty winter staple, common in menús del día and casas de comida and cooked often at home. The sources read give no date for the stew with chorizo.

Make it at home

Makes: 6 servings
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Hands-on: 25 min

Ingredients

Metric US

500 g2 1/2 cups pardina lentils, rinsed and picked over; soaking up to 12 hours is optional and shortens the cooking
1 chorizo (cooking chorizo, about 200 g / 7 oz), whole, to be sliced at the end
1 morcilla (onion blood sausage), optional, as in the Hola recipe
60 ml1/4 cup olive oil, our estimate; the source gives no amount
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 each red and green pepper, diced
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp pimentón (Spanish paprika), sweet or smoked
200 g7 oz crushed tomato
1 ham bone, optional, for depth
about 1.5 liters6 cups water, enough to cover the lentils by about 3 cm / 1 in
salt, to taste

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onions and leek with the bay leaves and a little salt for a few minutes, then add the carrots and peppers and cook until soft.
2. Add the ham bone, if using, and the pimentón and stir for a few seconds so the paprika does not burn.
3. Add the crushed tomato and the lentils and stir to coat them.
4. Cover with water, add a little more salt, bring to a boil, skim the foam and cook gently for 30 minutes.
5. Add the whole chorizo and the morcilla, if using, and cook another 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender but still whole; top up with a little hot water if they start to dry out, as the stew should stay brothy.
6. Take out the bones, the sausages and the bay leaves, slice the sausages and return them to the pot.
7. Rest the pot for 10 minutes off the heat before serving in deep bowls.

Notes

A plato de cuchara (spoon dish): there is no single recipe, and families differ. Quantities follow the Hola recipe for lentejas con chorizo (80 minutes, no servings stated), which uses two bones and a morcilla; the water amount and the oil are our estimates. Hola says pressure cooking also works.
Pardina is the recommended lentil: it is small and cooks fast. Foods & Wines from Spain says the pardina sold under the Tierra de Campos PGI has a slightly creamy interior, while La Armuña lentils (PGI) are green, hold their shape and have a buttery texture.
The Castilla y León tourism recipe for Armuña lentils uses a simpler base (chorizo, onion, carrot, pumpkin, leek, garlic, bay, pimentón and a little ground clove) and, for a thicker broth, purées a few cooked lentils with some of the tomato, pumpkin and leek and stirs it back in.
Hola suggests bread as the side, or a fresh salad, a dressed tomato and onion salad, or cogollos with garlic oil. Some people say the stew tastes better the second day.
If you do not eat pork, leave out the sausages and bones and add more pimentón.

Adapted from Hola, Lentejas con chorizo (receta tradicional), Turismo Castilla y León, Estofado de lenteja de la Armuña, and Foods and Wines from Spain, Lentils.