Since 2019, World Pulses Day has been celebrated every 10 February, an initiative of the United Nations. Nutritionally, pulses are very complete foods, like little capsules of health: good-quality plant protein, fibre, antioxidants, iron, potassium… Their make-up turns them into superfoods, and they are also a sustainable crop.
In Spain the best-known pulses are chickpeas, peas, beans, broad beans and lentils. Soya, alfalfa, carob, lupins and peanuts are pulses too.
At Restaurante Juan Moreno we often have spoon dishes off the menu, and pulses are frequently part of them. This week we have been serving beans with chorizo, and here is the recipe:
Beans with chorizo
- 500 g dried white beans
- 150 g chorizo
- 1 ham hock
- 150 g salted pork fat (tocino)
- 1 bunch of chard or green beans
- 1 onion
- 100 g fried tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 medium potatoes
Put the beans in cold water with the ham hock, the pork fat and the chorizo, and cook over a moderate heat.
Fry the cleaned, chopped onion in a pan with a little oil. Add the paprika and the tomato sauce and set aside. Peel and chop the potatoes.
While the beans cook, add a little cold water every twenty minutes so they cook evenly. Clean the chard and cook it separately.
When the beans start to open and are tender, add the potatoes and the onion mixture. Cook until the potatoes are tender and finish the stew with the chard. Turn off the heat and take the chorizo, pork fat and ham hock out of the pot. Cut the meat into pieces. The beans are ready to serve with the meat.
Want to know more about pulses? Watch this video (in Spanish):
