Last Night's Dinner 24

A Spanish inspired dish of chorizo, morcilla and black beans

This is a post for my paid subscribers which as usual has a long preview, up to and including the recipe ingredients. I have been debating with myself (and you all!) about these previews because I know having part of a post cut off under a paywall can be annoying - but the majority of you seem to prefer them, so I am leaving as is for the time being.

Thank you for all your comments in my last post - I’ve now contacted a winner and waiting for them to get in touch before I announce who they are….

Earlier this week I turned to one of my favourite quick dinners which I have been making forever. I had a craving for it and was the reason I braved Borough Market the other day.

It has the benefit of being very fast to put together if you have cooked beans at your disposal. I have a routine of putting beans on to soak the night before, then when I am cooking the children’s lunch the next morning, I put the beans on to cook too so I can keep an eye on them at the same time. This usually means letting them come up to pressure, switching the heat off straight away and then leaving them to sit in the pot all day until I am ready to use them at dinner time. I realise this is yet another variation on timings. If I need them sooner, I would cook for 2 mins at high pressure, leave for 10-15 mins off the heat and then open. They are always done and there is the added benefit that if you leave them to stand for less time, they will retain more colour - the cooking liquor for this particular batch was a densely opaque black, the beans faded to dark brown.

Like most of my recipes, this dish is a moveable feast and I mess around with the type of bean/chickpeas I use and whatever vegetables I need to use up. However, I do prefer using black beans - I love their inky intensity. In fact, I love using black foods in general. I made a black linguine and nduja dish the other day which was rich and spicy - so moorish. I shall post this soon, although it will have the caveats about not loving long pasta in the pressure cooker.

The non negotiables in this dish are the chorizo and morcilla so it is for the meat eaters among you. I specify morcilla, rather than a British black pudding mainly because the spicing is a bit different. But also, this particular sort are fat little sausages which don’t need to be sliced - and although they do occasionally burst if I put them on too high a heat when I saute them, they do generally keep their shape and won’t break up in the sauce. This is a good thing, because a black pudding in a sauce can make it a bit claggy. I usually use these ones from Brindisa, which are available on line if you can’t find them locally. And usually their cooking chorizo too. But there are as many Spanish types of morcilla there are British types of black pudding, probably many more, so experiment. If I am anywhere in the vicinity of Notting Hill, I will likely visit Garcia & Son on Portobello Road who do quite a selection in shop.

If I have some roast peppers I might add those too, stirred in at the end. Likewise artichoke hearts. But really, I love this as it is, uncomplicated and savoury.

A word about the cavolo nero - I usually just drop it on top, then use tongs to pile it into bowls when I serve before ladling the meat and beans on top. But you can stir it in if you prefer.

And finally, before I get onto the recipe, leftovers.

Yes, this was dinner from 2 nights ago, so here we have yesterday’s lunch and last night’s dinner proper:

The few beans leftover from the chorizo/morcilla dish had a great flavour and I combined with some leftover tomato and pepper sauce from a shakshuka from 3 nights ago. A bit of extra liquid, a handful of herbs and a garnish of cheese made a great soup for one.

Then with some the leftover cooked beans (ie, not used in the chorizo dish), I made a quick rice and peas dish. A bit Cuban. Not many vegetables left - and no greens - as I am food shopping later today and tomorrow. Sauteed onion, celery, added garlic, chopped coriander stems, chilli (wish I’d had a scotch bonnet, but no, just a regular red chilli), allspice, cinnamon, oregano and a diced sweet potato. Then 200g well rinsed basmati and the remaining black beans along with 250ml water. HP for 3 mins, natural release, then left to dry out with a tea towel and lid over off the heat for 5 mins. Served with herbs, cheese, a quick salsa of diced avocado, tomatoes, coriander, lime and also lime pickled red onions.

Black Beans with Morcilla and Chorizo

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

12 little morcilla (around 250g)

250g cooking chorizo, outer casing removed, sliced

2 medium red onions, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

1 sprig fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp chilli powder or flakes or hot paprika (optional and unnecessary if your chorizo are very hot)

750g cooked black beans & 2-4 ladlefuls of their cooking liquor (you can make it as soupy as you like).

250g cavolo nero, shredded