Like many of you I’m having to be a little more creative with my cooking these days – delving into the back of the cupboard and pantry for long forgotten bags of “stuff” that have now become my staples. Cans, pulses, long forgotten spice mixes bought on sunny holidays and jars of pickles that have previously had their time to shine gazumped by the allure of fresh meat, pasta, plump fresh tomatoes, salad leaves and cheese, oh how I miss cheese!

Where the weeds in the garden are giving me my greens I still want something substantial in the evening as I’m generally too busy to eat during the day. Between my part time day job where I’m now working from home, and time in my studio working on silversmithing projects or homemade pamper packs (you’ll see more about this to follow I’m sure!), I just struggle to find the time to eat, so come 6pm I want something quick and hearty.

This dish is so quick to make, so packed full of flavour and so cheap, it’s the perfect lockdown meal for me. Joel is averse to eating anything without meat. I can quite happily go without any meat but he’s a confirmed meat lover and so this dish was a sure fire winner over my suggestion of “Puy lentils and beetroot with dandelion”.

I buy bags of frozen veg these days when I am able to, as there is no wastage, no half an onion to sit forlornly in the fridge for a few days or half a pepper to slowly wilt. Frozen veg is absolutely brilliant for recipes like this where the water is cooked out and it doesn’t matter if the veg is a tad mushy, of course you can use fresh if you have it though.

Ingredients:

• 1 ring spicy chorizo, sliced into rounds
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 large handfuls chopped frozen onion
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp dried fennel seeds
• 2 handfuls chopped frozen mixed peppers
• good splash red wine
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 can chickpeas, drained (you can use the liquid to make vegan meringues)
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

To garnish:

Lemon balm pesto, wild garlic flowers

Method:

1. Gently fry the chorizo in the oil to release the gorgeous orange hued oil then add the onion, garlic and fennel seeds. Gently fry for a few minutes.
2. Add the peppers and cook until the water has come out of the peppers and evaporated then crank up the heat and add the wine. Cook for a few minutes to boil the alcohol off then add the tomatoes.
3. Cook for a few minutes then add the chickpeas and smoked paprika then cook long enough to soften the chickpeas. Season and serve topped with the pesto and wild garlic flowers and serve with a big chunk of crusty bread or focaccia.