Yes! It is finally perfectly acceptable to start eating stews again! Sometimes it’s the only thing you want to eat during the week but as we all know, stews that require meat such as beef or lamb take a long time to cook and always taste better if made the day before – just like a good curry. But for during the week, getting a good hearty meal to the table speedily is always the priority. This stew is really tasty swapping out the slow cooker red meat and replacing it with a good quality chorizo that is full of flavour and cooks quickly.

A few simple tricks will turn boring old cous cous into a fragrant and tasty accompaniement that takes only minutes to put together.  I serve this up with a simple green leaf salad tossed together with a little sea salt, lemon juice and some extra virgin olive oil to help cut through the richness and also put a happy splodge of green on the plate (meals must have green stuff in, on or with them!).  Some fresh crusty bread brings the whole thing together in a big old hug!

Ingredients:

For the Stew:

• A standard sized Chorizo sausage (around 200g), try and get the best you can.  Peel the skin of the sausage.
• 1 small red onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 4 tomatoes quartered
• 1 400g chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1/2 organic yellow chilli (or one small red one)
• 1 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
• 1/2tbsp of ground paprika / pimento
• Handful of rainbow chard
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1tsp sumac
• Generous amount of freshly ground black pepper
• Smoked sea salt to taste
• Handful of finely chopped flat leaf parsley

For the Cous Cous:

• 150g cous cous
• 1/2 jelly stock cub
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 2tsp of ground cumin
• 1/2tsp sumac
• Boiling water to cover
• Parsley and extra virgin olive oil to finish

Method:

• Peel and chop the chorizo into round chunks and then halve again.
• Place in a casserole dish / covered pan on a low heat and cover to release the oils from the meat.
• After 3-5 minutes, add in the onion, garlic, chili and fresh tomatoes and stir to mix.
• Cook out for another couple of minutes and then add the tomato puree and tinned tomatoes, stir and add the pepper.
• Meanwhile put the dry cous cous into a bowl, add the cinnamon, cumin, sumac and veg stock.
• Boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over so it just covers the cous cous.  Mix with a fork and cover with a plate and leave to soak up.
• Return to the stew: Add in the drained chickpeas and paprika, stir and add in the juice of half a lemon and the sumac.
• Cook for another 5 minutes on a low heat.
• Chop the rainbow chard and add it to the pot.  Taste the sauce for seasoning and add salt to your taste.
• Tend to the cous cous: the liquid should all be soaked up.  Fluff up with a fork and drizzle with a llittle bit of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of flat leaf parsley.
• Return finally to the stew and give it a final stir.  Add the remaining parsley and serve piping hot in the dish straight to the table.
• Serve it up with the cous cous, a green salad and some fresh crusty bread and….Enjoy!