It was tapas night for me recently, and somewhat coincidentally, I had just bought a fine-looking chorizo. So it was rather obvious that there had to be a dish involving this particular ingredient. I settled for an originally Mexican recipe which I tweaked a little bit, and it turned out to be just smashing – full of flavor and character but not too over-powering at the same time.

 Sanni

Ingredients:

• 100 grams of black-eyed peas
• 500 grams of fresh tomatoes (alternatively 1 can of chopped tomatoes)
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (for frying)
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 chilis (e.g. jalapeño), seeded and cut into fine slices
• 1 garlic clove, whole
• 1 teaspoon of tomato paste
• 150 ml of red wine
• freshly ground black pepper, salt
• 1 chorizo, cut into slices
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh parsley

Preparation:

1. Let the black-eyed peas soak in water overnight.
2. Strain and rinse with cold water. Then cook in lightly salted water for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until al dente.
3. Strain and rinse with cold water until completely cooled down. Set aside.
4. Cut away the stalk and make a cross-shaped incision at the bottom of each tomato.
5. Bring approximately 1 liter of water to the boil.
6. Let the tomatoes boil in the hot water for approximately 1 minute, remove and cool down with cold water. Then peel off the skin.
7. Cut into halves, remove the seeds & liquid (do not discard) and cut the flesh into cubes.
8. Puree the seeds & liquid and pass through a sieve. Discard the seeds and set aside the liquid.
9. Fry the onion in olive oil on medium heat until soft.
10. Add the chili, tomato paste and garlic clove and fry for another 3 minutes.
11. Deglaze with red wine. Add the tomatoes and tomatoes liquid, season with black pepper and salt, cover and let simmer on low heat for approximately 45 minutes.
12. In a separate frying pan, fry the chorizo slices on medium to high heat for approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
13. Add both he chorizo and black-eyed peas to the salsa and let simmer with lid removed for another 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Season with more black pepper and salt if necessary.
14. Remove the garlic clove. Put into tapas or individual dishes, sprinkle with parsley and serve warm.