Chickpea and Chorizo Tagine

Weeks after ordering a tagine from Sur La Table, I finally made my first tagine dish. The dish I chose is Chickpea and Chorizo Tagine with Bay Leaves, Paprika and Sage. Tasty, tasty, tasty! For me, the star component of this recipe is the Spanish smoked paprika. My Grammie, who happens to be an amazing international gourmet cook, makes a pork dish using this smoked paprika. When she was visiting last year, she told me about the spice and we then purchased it at Metropolitan Market. Until two nights ago, I had never opened the spice can. Boy have I been missing out! The paprika has a wonderful bitter-free smokiness to it that lends a very unique flavor to the dish. I plan on finding more recipes that use this ingredient so I can experience the flavor again. Recipe follows:

Ingredients:

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in plenty of water

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

2 red onions, cut in half lengthwise, halved crosswise, and sliced with the grain

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 think chorizo, roughly 8" long, sliced on the diagonal

2-3 fresh bay leaves

several sprigs of fresh thyme

1-2 tsp Spanish smoked paprika

bunch of fresh sage leaves, shredded

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain chickpeas, place in large saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for roughly 45 minutes or until chickpeas are soft but still have bite to them. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Remove any loose skins.

Heat olive oil in tagine or heavy-based casserole dish. Stir in onions and garlic and saute until they begin to color. Add chorizo, bay leaves and thyme and saute until brown. Toss in chickpeas, add paprika and cover with lid. Cook gently for 10-15 minutes to allow flavors to mingle. Toss in sage leaves and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot with yogurt or flat bread. Serves 4.

This recipe required that I use the tagine on my stovetop. Many recipes call for the tagine to be used in the oven, which I plan on trying next time. I learned tonight that not only is the tagine aesthetically fun, it is fun to use. I am beginning to discover that unique cooking vessels and gadgets are of interest to me. This could turn into a very bad habit. :)

The only mistake I made with this recipe is forgetting to take a photo before we dug in. I promise next time I prepare a tagine dish, I will snap a photo to include with my post. If you would like to view photos of a tagine dish, please click on this link to see my post for Fish Tagine With Preserved Lemon and Mint.