Name: Lentil Stew with Beef and Chorizo
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 85 min
Total time: 490 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Argentine
Ingredients: 400 g dried lentils; 1 kg beef (roasting beef, rump or shoulder), in cubes; 300 g smoked bacon, in batons; 2 dried paprika sausages, skinned and sliced; 3 carrots, diced; 2 red peppers, diced; 2 onions, chopped; 2 scallions (spring onions), chopped; 1 tin of crushed tomatoes; 4 garlic cloves, chopped, germ removed; 300 ml vegetable stock; 250 ml red wine (1 glass); 1 tbsp butter; 1 tbsp olive oil; Bay, sweet paprika, chilli flakes, salt and pepper

Lentil Stew with Beef and Chorizo

⏱ 8 h 10 min in total🔪 35 min prep🍳 85 min cooking🧊 6 h 10 min resting🍽 8 portiesMedium

The Argentine lentil stew: generous, spiced and with everything that belongs in it — bacon, vegetables and the dried paprika sausage that gives it colour and smoke. It makes a lot and it is better reheated.

About the sausage: what is called chorizo colorado here is not the Spanish cured chorizo and not the fresh grilling sausage — those are three different things. The closest outside Argentina is a dried, well-smoked paprika sausage.

The lentils are pre-cooked and then refreshed in cold water before they go into the pot. That sounds like a detour and it is the reason they stay whole in the finished stew instead of collapsing into mush.

🔎 What is chorizo? — where it comes from, what goes in it and how it differs.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 8 servings

400 g dried lentils
1 kg beef (roasting beef, rump or shoulder), in cubes
300 g smoked bacon, in batons
2 dried paprika sausages, skinned and sliced
3 carrots, diced
2 red peppers, diced
2 onions, chopped
2 scallions (spring onions), chopped
1 tin of crushed tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, chopped, germ removed
300 ml vegetable stock
250 ml red wine (1 glass)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Bay, sweet paprika, chilli flakes, salt and pepper

Method

Soaking: wash the lentils and leave them in plenty of cold water for 6 hours. Discard any that float, drain and rinse.

Pre-cooking: cook the lentils in water with coarse salt for 10 minutes. Drain, refresh under cold water and set aside — the cold water stops the cooking and is what keeps them whole later.

Browning: in a large pot with the oil and the butter, brown the bacon and the beef until both have taken a little colour.

The vegetable base: add the carrots and the paprika sausage. Cook for 2 minutes over moderate heat. Add the peppers, the onions, the scallions and the garlic; soften for another 4 minutes.

Deglazing and the liquid base: pour in the red wine and let the alcohol cook off. Add the tomatoes, the bay, the stock and season with paprika and chilli flakes. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finishing: add the reserved lentils. Cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until the stew thickens and the lentils are tender.

Resting: turn off the heat and let the stew stand covered for 10 minutes before serving, so the flavours settle.