Chef Isabel
Cigrons a la Catalana
Cigrons a la Catalana are Catalonia's chickpeas cooked in a dark sofregit, loosened with their own broth, then thickened with almond-garlic picada while pine nuts and raisins give the sweet Catalan note.
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Lentejas a la Riojana
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Lentejas a la Riojana are La Rioja's spoon food: brown lentils, chorizo, potato, and choricero pepper cooked slowly until the broth turns red, sweet, and thick enough to hold a spoon.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
One Pot
Budget Friendly
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 10 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Lentejas a la Riojana belong to La Rioja, and the choricero pepper is what gives them their surname. Not just lentils with chorizo. Lentils with the sweet red pulp of dried peppers, a little pimentón, potato to thicken the pot, and the cured pork larder that country kitchens knew how to stretch.
The step that decides the dish is the sofrito, the slow onion base. Cook the onion, leek, carrot, and garlic low until they go sweet and soft before the lentils meet the water. Rush it and you get boiled lentils with chorizo floating in them. Give it time and the broth tastes round before the pot has even begun to simmer.
Use pardina lentils if you can, the small brown lentils that hold their shape and cook without soaking. If you can't find dried choricero peppers, use ñora pepper pulp, or 1 tablespoon of good pimentón dulce de la Vera and accept that the flavor will be smokier and less fruity. No hace falta haber pisado España. You need decent lentils, real Spanish chorizo if you can get it, and patience enough for the pot.
In my Margin beside this one I wrote only this: salt late. Chorizo brings salt, and lentils toughen if you bully them too early. Taste near the end, then decide. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Lentil potajes have deep roots in the Ebro valley and in Sephardic household cooking, where legumes, onion, garlic, and oil made a filling meal long before pork entered this Riojan version. In La Rioja, the dish took on the region's cured chorizo and dried choricero peppers, both tied to the winter larder and the matanza, the household pig slaughter. The version often linked to the sixteenth century carries both histories in one pot: the older legume stew and the later Riojan cured-pork pantry.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pardina lentils or small brown lentils
Quantity
300g
rinsed
Spanish cooking chorizo
Quantity
200g
cut into thick coins
dried choricero peppers
Quantity
2
potatoes
Quantity
250g
peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
onion
Quantity
1 medium
finely chopped
leek
Quantity
1 small
white and pale green part finely chopped
carrot
Quantity
1
finely diced
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
finely chopped
olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
sweet pimentón de la Vera
Quantity
1 teaspoon
bay leaf
Quantity
1
cold water or light unsalted stock
Quantity
1.2 litres
salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
sherry vinegar (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
to finish
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pardina lentils or small brown lentilsrinsed | 300g |
| Spanish cooking chorizocut into thick coins | 200g |
| dried choricero peppers | 2 |
| potatoespeeled and cut into 2cm chunks | 250g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 medium |
| leekwhite and pale green part finely chopped | 1 small |
| carrotfinely diced | 1 |
| garlicfinely chopped | 3 cloves |
| olive oil | 3 tablespoons |
| sweet pimentón de la Vera | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| cold water or light unsalted stock | 1.2 litres |
| salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| sherry vinegar (optional)to finish | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 4 litre pot or olla
- •Small bowl for soaking peppers
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Soften the peppers
Put the dried choricero peppers in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and leave them for 20 minutes until soft. Split them open, scrape out the sweet red pulp with the back of a knife, and discard the skins and seeds. That pulp is La Rioja speaking in this pot.
If your choricero peppers are very dry, give them 30 minutes. Don't chop the skins into the stew; they stay leathery. - 2
Cook the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, leek, carrot, and a pinch of salt, then cook for 12 to 15 minutes until soft, sweet, and lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more. This sofrito, the slow onion base, is the floor of the stew, so don't rush it.
- 3
Bloom the pimentón
Add the chorizo coins and let them color the oil for 3 minutes. Pull the pot off the heat, stir in the pimentón and the choricero pulp, then return it to the stove. Pimentón scorches fast and turns bitter, so it gets warmth, not punishment.
- 4
Simmer the lentils
Add the rinsed lentils, bay leaf, and 1.2 litres cold water or light unsalted stock. Bring to a gentle simmer, skim once if needed, then lower the heat and cook uncovered for 25 minutes. Keep the pot moving softly, not boiling hard, so the lentils stay whole.
- 5
Add the potatoes
Add the potato chunks and continue simmering for 20 to 25 minutes, until the lentils are tender and the potatoes are soft at the edges. Stir now and then so nothing catches. If the pot looks tight before the lentils are done, add a little hot water, 100ml at a time.
- 6
Season and rest
Taste the lentils, then add about 1 teaspoon salt, or less if the chorizo has already done the work. Crush a few potato pieces against the side of the pot if you want a thicker broth. Turn off the heat and let the stew rest 10 minutes before serving. A small spoon of sherry vinegar at the end wakes it up, but don't make it sharp.
Chef Tips
- •Use pardina lentils if you can find them. They cook without soaking, keep their shape, and give you a clean, earthy broth instead of a pot of mush.
- •The chorizo should be Spanish cooking chorizo, cured or semi-cured, not raw Mexican-style chorizo. If that is all you have, make another dish. The seasoning, fat, and texture are not the same.
- •If dried choricero peppers are hard to find, use 2 tablespoons jarred choricero pepper pulp. Ñora pulp works too, a little sweeter and rounder. Pimentón alone will help the color, but it won't give the same fruitiness.
- •These lentils are better after a rest and very good the next day. Reheat gently with a splash of water, because the potato keeps thickening the broth as it sits.
Advance Preparation
- •The choricero peppers can be soaked and scraped a day ahead; keep the pulp covered in the refrigerator.
- •The whole stew can be cooked one day ahead. Cool it quickly, refrigerate, and reheat gently with 100ml to 200ml water until loose and glossy again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 315g)
Calories
430 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
30 mg
Sodium
910 mg
Total Carbohydrates
39 g
Dietary Fiber
14 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
22 g
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